


Percy Jackson and Time Traveling and the Titan's Curse

by BlooBlu



Series: Percy Jackson: Time Traveler [3]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Bessie is a treasure, Character Death, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Loss of Limbs, Percy has ADHD and PTSD, Slightly-more than canon typical violence, Time Travel, it's the slowest of burns with wise girl and seaweed brain, just as rick intended, no beta we die like men, slowburd? oh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:48:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 67,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27339709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlooBlu/pseuds/BlooBlu
Summary: Third installment of this dumb series, hope you enjoy! Read the others first or be hopelessly confused
Relationships: Annabeth Chase & Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase & Thalia Grace & Grover Underwood, Bianca di Angelo & Nico di Angelo, Bianca di Angelo & Zoë Nightshade, Luke Castellan & Annabeth Chase & Thalia Grace, Percy Jackson & Grover Underwood
Series: Percy Jackson: Time Traveler [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1965973
Comments: 29
Kudos: 110





	1. Right on schedule

The Friday before winter break, Percy’s mom packed him an overnight bag and a few deadly weapons and took him to a new boarding school. It was fun packing with her, talking a little about what Chiron had told them to expect on this trip. Honestly, he’d missed these moments - the quiet comfort of spending time with his mom before leaving for camp, or a quest. They picked up Annabeth and Thalia on the way. 

It was an eight-hour drive from New York to Bar Harbor, Maine. Sleet and snow pounded the highway. He, Annabeth, and Thalia hadn’t seen each other in months, but between the blizzard and the thought of what they were about to do, things were a bit quiet. Except for Sally Jackson, she talks more when she’s nervous. 

By the time they finally got to Westover Hall, it was getting dark, and she’d told Annabeth and Thalia every embarrassing baby story there was to tell about him. It was a little embarrassing, but mostly he was happy to be reminded of those parts of his past - the boring, human parts. It’d been a long time since he got to live like that. Almost eighteen years, now. 

Thalia wiped the fog off the car window and peered outside. “Oh, yeah. This’ll be fun.” Westover Hall looked like an evil knight’s castle. It was all black stone, with towers and slit windows and a big set of wooden double doors, and it stood on a snowy cliff overlooking a big frosty forest on one side and the grey churning ocean on the other. He remembered those waters; they visited his nightmares from time to time, watching Annabeth fall into them and not being able to sense her hit the waves from so far away. 

“Are you sure you don’t want me to wait?” his mother asked. 

‘“No, thanks, Mom,” he said. “I don’t know how long it will take, and I don’t want you out here alone if anything dangerous comes by. We’ll be alright.” 

“But how will you get back? I’m worried, Percy.” The concern was appreciated, really, but he wished she wouldn’t get so worked up about him risking his life at this point. 

“It’s okay, Ms Jackson,” Annabeth smiled reassuringly. Her blonde hair was tucked into a ski cap and her grey eyes were the same color as the ocean. “We’ll keep him out of trouble.” 

Sally seemed to relax a little. She thinks Annabeth is the most level-headed demigod ever to hit eighth grade. Which is totally true, and she  _ does  _ keep him out of a lot of trouble, but wise girl doesn’t need a bigger head about it. 

“All right, dears,” his mom said. “Do you have everything you need?” 

“Yes, Ms Jackson,” Thalia said. “Thanks for the ride.”

“Extra sweaters? You have my cell phone number?” 

“Mom, seriously, we’ll be-” 

“Your ambrosia and nectar, Percy? And a golden drachma in case you need to contact camp” 

“Mom, we’ll be just fine, I  _ promise.  _ You need to go get to a nice hotel for the night, relax, and then drive home in the morning knowing I’ll still be alive and safe.” 

She still looked worried, but there wasn’t much he could do about that. At least she seemed confident that he wasn’t lying on purpose, but anything could happen when half-bloods, especially one of the Big Three’s kids, let alone two, were involved. 

Annabeth and Thalia followed him outside. The wind blew straight through his coat like ice daggers, and he was already considering digging into his bag for one of those extra sweaters. 

Once his mother’s car was out of sight, Thalia said, “Your mom is so cool, Percy.”

“The coolest,” he agreed. “I’m really glad she… well, if I had to have any mortal parent, I’d pick her every time.” He knew it wasn’t the time to bring up either of his friend’s mortal families - Thalia still thought Jason was dead, and Annabeth was still working on stuff with her dad, though they’ve made a lot of progress from wise girl’s earlier years at camp.

“We’d better get inside,” Annabeth said, rubbing her arms for warmth. “Grover will be waiting.” 

Thalia looked at the castle and shivered. “You’re right. I wonder what he found here that made him send the distress call.”

“Probably nothing good,” Percy mumbled. Not that he wasn’t secretly jumping for joy at the idea of seeing Nico again, but he was also incredibly anxious. He  _ really  _ didn’t want things to turn out like they had last time, but… no. 

No, Percy had spent the entire school year thinking about this. He knew there were limited options when it came to uniting the Greek and Roman camps, but there was  _ no way _ he was letting a ten-year-old run away and be all alone like that again. Losing Bianca to Artemis (even if he was going to do everything in his power to keep her alive, he couldn’t change her mind to leave her little brother at camp,) would be tough enough, without having to go through all of that again. 

The oak doors of Westover High groaned open, and the three of them stepped into the entry hall in a swirl of snow. 

The place was _ huge.  _ The walls were lined with battle flags and weapon displays: antique rifles, battleaxes and a bunch of other stuff - excessive even for a ‘military school’. The building was just as intimidating as he remembered, and Percy’s hand crept into his pocket where Anaklusmos was sitting, in pen form. 

Thalia was rubbing her silver bracelet, her favorite magic item that turned into a pretty intimidating shield, and he knew they could both feel it. A fight was coming. 

Annabeth started to say, “I wonder where-” But then the doors slammed shut behind them. 

“Oo-kay,” he drew out in a low whisper. “Guess we’ll stay awhile.” 

There was music echoing from the other end of the hall. It sounded like dance music. They stashed their overnight bags behind a pillar and started down the hall. 

They hadn’t gone very far at all when he heard footsteps on the stone floor, and a man and woman marched out of the shadows to intercept the trio. They both had short grey hair and black military-style uniforms with red trim. The woman had a wispy mustache, and the guy was clean-shaven, which seemed kind of hilarious, in retrospect. They both walked stiffly, like they had broomsticks taped to their spines. Gottschalk and Thorn - not their real names, of course, but they were the ones he remembered. 

“Well?’ the woman demanded. “What are you doing here?” 

“Oh, we were just-” Percy started. 

“Ha!” the man snapped, which made him jump a little. “Visitors are not allowed at the dance! You shall be _ eee-jected! _ ”

Thorn’s French accent wasn’t exactly the most pleasant thing to listen to. He pronounced his  _ J _ like in  _ Jacques,  _ which really shouldn’t bother the demigod so much, and yet here he was - pissed off literally just from the sound of the guy’s voice.

The monster was tall in human form, with a hawkish face. His nostrils flared when he spoke, which made it really hard not to stare up his nose, and his eyes were two different colors - one brown, one blue - like an alley cat’s. Seriously, how had none of them realized right away this was a monster in disguise, Percy could practically smell the Tartarus on this guy from here. Maybe his senses were just  _ that _ dull as a kid. 

Thorn looked like he was about to toss them into the snow, but then Thalia stepped forward and snapped her fingers. The sound was sharp and loud, and he felt something like a gust of wind blow over them. She was manipulating the Mist. Seriously, why had no one ever thought to teach him that until he was years into his time as a camper at Camp Half-Blood? That’s just unfair.

“Oh, but we’re not visitors, sir,” Thalia said. “We go to school here. You remember: I’m Thalia. And this is Annabeth and Percy. We’re in the eighth grade.” 

The ‘teacher’ narrowed his two-colored eyes. Thorn was hesitating, knowing that if he didn’t seem to react to the Mist at all, they’d know something was off about him. He looked at his colleague. 

“Ms Gottschalk, do you know these students?”

The woman blinked, like someone had just woken her up from a trance. ‘I… yes. I believe I do, sir.” She frowned at them. “Annabeth. Thalia. Percy. What are you doing away from the gymnasium?”

Before any of them could answer, there were more footsteps, and Grover ran up, breathless. “You made it! You-” He stopped short when he saw the teachers. “Oh, Mrs Gottschalk. Dr Thorn! I, uh-”

“What is it, Mr Underwood?” said Thorn. His tone made it clear that he detested Grover. “What do you mean they made it? These students live here.”

Grover swallowed. “Yes, sir. Of course, Dr Thorn. I just meant I’m so glad they made… the punch for the dance! The punch is great. And they made it!”

Dr Thorn glared at them. He looked like he wanted to pitch all four of them off the castle’s highest tower, but then Mrs Gottschalk said dreamily, “Yes, the punch is excellent. Now run along, all of you. You are not to leave the gymnasium again!” 

Grover hustled them all down the hall towards the gym, with a few muttered ‘yes sir’s and ‘yes ma’am’s from the group. As they were walking, Percy turned to Thalia. 

“Nice thinking with the Mist back there. You’re pretty good.” 

She just shrugged. “It’s not that hard.” 

“Maybe I just suck then,” he laughed, and they both let the silence resume. 

At the end of the hall were a set of doors with ‘GYM’ written on the glass. Even with seventy-five percent of their group being dyslexic, he was sure everyone got that much. 

“That was close!” Grover said. “Thank the gods you got here!” Annabeth and Thalia both hugged the satyr, and Percy put an arm around his shoulders for a moment. It was good to see him after so many months. He’d got a little taller and had sprouted a few more whiskers, but otherwise he looked like he always did when he passed for human – a red cap on his curly brown hair to hide his goat horns and baggy jeans and trainers with fake feet to hide his furry legs and hooves. 

“So what’s the emergency?” Percy finally asked. 

Grover took a deep breath, “I found two.”

“Two half-bloods?” Thalia asked, amazed. “Here?” 

Grover nodded, and Percy understood the shock well enough. Finding just one half-blood was usually pretty rare. But two, and in the same place? That was almost unheard of. 

“A brother and a sister,” he said. “They’re ten and twelve. I don’t know their parentage, but they’re strong. We’re running out of time, though. I need help.”

“Monsters?” 

“One.” Grover looked nervous. “He suspects. I don’t think he’s positive yet, but this is the last day of term. I’m sure he won’t let them leave campus without finding out. It may be our last chance! Every time I try to get close to them, he’s always there, blocking me. I don’t know what to do!” He looked at Thalia desperately. Percy tried not to feel too offended, considering for all anyone knew, she had seniority. 

“Right,” she said. ‘These half-bloods are at the dance?” Grover nodded. 

“Then let’s dance,” Thalia said. “Who’s the monster?”

The satyr looked ready to answer, but the son of Poseidon was already pushing past the gymnasium doors as his friend spoke: 

“Oh, you just met him. The vice-principal, Dr Thorn.” 

There were black and red balloons all over the gym floor, and guys were kicking them in each other’s faces, or trying to strangle each other with the crêpe-paper streamers taped to the walls. Girls moved around in football huddles, the way they always do, wearing lots of makeup and spaghetti-strap tops and brightly colored trousers and shoes that looked like torture devices. 

Every once in awhile they’d surround some poor guy like a pack of piranhas, shrieking and giggling, and when they finally moved on, the guy would have ribbons in his hair and a bunch of lipstick graffiti all over his face. 

Some of the older guys looked uncomfortable, hanging out at the edges of the gym and trying to hide, like any minute they might have to fight for their lives. 

“There they are.” Grover nodded towards a couple of younger kids arguing in the bleachers. “Bianca and Nico di Angelo.” 

Percy was leaning against the wall near the doors to the gym, quietly sweeping his eyes over the room in a practiced ‘I’m looking for something but won’t be obvious about finding it’ maneuver. It was sorta necessary to learn when looking for something (or someone) that your enemy is also searching for. 

Bianca wore a floppy green cap, like she was trying to hide her face. Nico was shuffling his precious trading cards around, clearly more focused on them than anything else in the room. They both had dark silky hair and olive skin, and they used their hands a lot as they talked. 

Annabeth said, “Do they… I mean, have you told them?”

Grover shook his head. “You know how it is. That could put them in more danger. Once they realize who they are, their scent becomes stronger.”

As he continued looking over the room, eyes flicking back to the di Angelo siblings every few moments, Percy noticed the vice-principal, Dr Thorn, had slipped out of a doorway near the bleachers and was standing near the unaware children of Pluto. He nodded coldly in their direction, blue eye glowing as he stared down the visiting half-bloods.

Percy shook his head and tuned back into what his friends were saying, catching the tail-end of Thalia’s plan to take attention away from Nico and Bianca. 

Thalia cocked her ear to the music and made a face. “Ugh. Who chose the Jesse McCartney?” 

Grover looked hurt. “I did.”

“Oh my gods, Grover. That is so lame. Can’t you play, like, Green Day or something?”

“Green who?” “

Never mind. Let’s dance.” 

“But I can’t dance!” 

“You can if I’m leading,” Thalia said. “Come on, goat boy.”

Grover yelped as the daughter of Zeus grabbed his hand and led him onto the dance floor. Annabeth smiled. 

“What?” Percy asked.

“Nothing. It’s just cool to have Thalia back.”

Wise girl had grown taller over the school year, a few inches above him, now. It felt weird. Neither of them were exactly dressed for a dance, but she wore little silver earrings shaped like owls, and as she pulled off her ski cap, her long blonde hair tumbled down her shoulders. It reminded him of how she looked more in her adult years, somehow. Elegant and deadly all at once. 

“Beautiful,” he mumbled, not fully of his own volition. 

“What?” Annabeth looked at him with a weird gleam in her eyes. 

“You uhm- you look pretty, is all.” It’d been years since he was embarrassed to tell her things like that, but he wasn’t sure how much she’d appreciate the comment from a guy that was just a friend, right now. 

It was hard to tell in the low light of the gym, but he’s pretty sure her face turned a little pinker than usual. 

“...Thanks, seaweed brain.” 

“Hey!” Thalia called to them, saving from any more awkwardness. She was slow dancing with Grover, who was tripping all over himself, kicking Thalia in the shins, and looking like he wanted to die. At least his feet were fake, so he had a reasonable excuse. 

“Dance, you guys!” She ordered. “You look stupid just standing there.”

“Well?” Annabeth said, turning back to him. 

“Well… you wanna dance, wise girl?” 

She nodded, smiling as she grabbed him by the arm and pulled Percy to the dance floor. 

The music was slow for the moment, so he put his hands on her hips as she settled her arms over his shoulders. It was weird, considering he hadn’t danced in forever, but he thankfully didn’t step on her toes at any point. 

After a few moments of silent swaying and moving with the music, he figured they could talk a little, as long as he kept one eye on the di Angelo siblings in his periphery. 

“So, how’s school been? Design any cool buildings?”

Annabeth’s eyes lit up, the way they always did when she talked about architecture. “Oh my gods, Percy. At my new school, I get to take 3-D design, and there’s this cool computer program…” 

She went on to explain how she’d designed this huge monument that she wanted to build at Ground Zero in Manhattan. She talked about structural supports and facades and stuff, and he tried his best to follow. Percy had picked up a few things from listening to her talk about design and architecture over the years, but he was no expert. 

“So, you going back there next year? Seems like a nice place.” 

Annabeth pursed her lips, looking angry and resigned all the same. “Of course, if my dad doesn’t…” 

“Doesn’t what?”

She sighed. “He decided to move. Just when I was getting settled in New York, he took this stupid new job researching for a World War I book. In San Francisco.”

“And he wants you to move there with him?” He asked.

“To the other side of the country,” she said miserably. “And half-bloods can’t live in San Francisco. He should know that.”

“The Mountains of Despair,” Percy muttered. 

“Yeah.” 

“So what’ll you do? Move back to camp?” 

Something about this conversation tickled the back of his brain, demanded his attention. But for the life of him, he couldn’t remember anything about this night besides finding Nico and Bianca, and Annabeth falling into those waters- 

“It’s more serious than that, Percy. I… I probably should tell you something-” Suddenly she froze. “They’re gone.”

“What?” He followed her gaze. Shit, the bleachers! He’d only been turned away for a minute, but the di Angelo siblings were gone. The door next to the bleachers was wide open, and Dr Thorn was also nowhere in sight. 

“We have to get Thalia and Grover” Annabeth looked around frantically. “Oh, where’d they dance off to? Come on!” She ran through the crowd. 

He was about to follow, knowing it’d be better for all four of them to go together, but a crowd got between him and Annabeth. By the time he was free, she had disappeared. Percy looked about frantically. 

About fifteen meters away, lying on the gym floor, was a floppy green cap and a few scattered trading cards. He gently picked them up, putting the cards in his pocket and tucking the hat into his coat, as he searched more carefully about the gym.

After a moment, he caught a glimpse of Dr Thorn. He was hurrying out a door at the opposite end of the gym, steering the di Angelo kids by the scruffs of their necks, like kittens. 

He still couldn’t see Annabeth, or Thalia and Grover. Dr Thorn would be through those doors and out of his sight any moment. There wasn’t  _ time,  _ either he could save those kids or find his friends, and there was no way he was letting those kids get eaten or worse. 

Cursing, Percy cast one last, desperate look across the gym, before pulling Riptide from his pocket and rushing after the manticore - right, he’s a manticore! - and the di Angelos. 

The door led into a dark hallway. He heard sounds of scuffling up ahead, then a painful grunt. His sword’s blade glowed faintly, casting a golden light on the rows of lockers. There was no one at the other end when he’d made it down the hall. Opening a vaguely familiar door, Percy found himself back in the main entry hall. He’d officially gone full-circle and couldn’t see Dr Thorn anywhere, but Nico and Bianca were in one corner of the room.

They stood frozen in horror, staring right at him. He advanced slowly, keeping Riptide ready in his grip but trying to look non-threatening. 

“It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you, and I won’t let him get you either.” 

They didn’t answer, their eyes full of fear. Percy closed his eyes for a moment and tried to sense for Dr Thorn. He didn’t have a special sense of smell, and the room wasn’t underwater, so the best he could do was listen to his instincts. 

_ There.  _

“My name’s Percy,” said, hoping he hadn’t done anything to let Thorn know he’d found the manticore. “I’m going to take you out of here, get you somewhere safe, alright? My friends and I are here to help.” 

Bianca’s eyes widened. Her fists clenched. Only a second later did he hear the faint  _ whiiish  _ of something flying towards him. It was too fast to dodge, and besides - from this angle, it might’ve hit Bianca if he avoided it.

Pain exploded in his shoulder. Percy was slammed into the wall, spine pinning him there. Gritting his teeth as a cold laugh echoed through the hall, he reached with the hand not gripping Riptide to yank it out. It was difficult, and there was definitely magic working against him, but it was moving inch by inch. 

“Yes, Perseus Jackson,” Dr Thorn said. His accent mangled the J in Jackson. “I know who you are.” 

His shoulder burned, and not just with the large hole in it - poison. There was definitely poison on the spine. Thankfully, through a lot of less-than-pleasant experiences, Percy had figured out a long time ago that his pain tolerance was as high as ever, even in his younger body. Tolerance for poison and blood loss was more of a physical thing he had to work on, but all he had to do for the moment was not pass out and hopefully cut this manticore to pieces. 

Dr Thorn stepped into the dim light. He still looked human, but his face was ghoulish. He had perfect white teeth and his brown/blue eyes reflected the light of Riptide’s gentle glow. 

“Thank you for coming out of the gym,” he said. “I hate middle-school dances.” 

Percy had stopped trying to remove the spine in his shoulder once it was out of the wall behind him - poison or no, it’d keep most of the blood in for now. When he figured Throne was close enough that he wouldn’t be able to dodge in time, Percy rushed forward and slashed Riptide in a downward arc, adding as much power as he could with the spike still tearing at his muscle and tendons with each movement. 

He managed to get a decent-size gash across the monster’s chest, but not a second later, Bianca yelped from behind him. Thorn had thrown another projectile, and the second thorn impaled itself in the stone wall, a millimeter from her face. 

“All three of you will come with me,” Dr Thorn said, pressing a hand to his chest and looking more pissed than injured. “Quietly. Obediently. If you make another move like that, or make so much as a  _ whisper _ for help, I will show you just how accurately I can throw.”

_ Well, shit  _ Percy thought. The universe really wants things to follow their intended course, huh?


	2. Ice cold

Percy knew he could escape if it was just him. He’d need to be fast as hell, and drink a  _ lot  _ of ambrosia when everything was settled, but he’d make it. The problem was that he couldn’t leave Nico and Bianca behind - there was no way he was ditching them, even just to find his friends and bring them back for some monster-slaying. 

Sighing, he decided on plan B. It wasn’t easy connecting with Grover through their link while he was awake - it was much easier to communicate through dreams - but he’d give it his best shot. Closing his eyes, Percy sent the strongest  _ trouble-danger-helpme-Imgonnadie  _ signals he could. 

“What are you doing, Jackson?” hissed Dr Thorn. “Keep moving!”

Sending the manticore a glare, he responded, “Maybe I’d move faster if some jerk hadn’t  _ poisoned _ me.”

“Bah! My poison causes pain. It will not kill you. Walk!” Thorn herded them outside, marching them into the woods. They took a snowy path dimly lit by old-fashioned lamplights. The ache in his shoulder, the biting cold, the sound of dirt shifting under his sneakers - it all jogged his memory just a bit. Brief flashes of blurry scenes passed through his mind like water running off a roof.

“There is a clearing ahead,” Thorn said. “We will summon your ride.” 

“What ride?” Bianca demanded. “Where are you taking us?”

“Silence, you insufferable girl!”

“Don’t talk to my sister that way!” Nico said. His voice quavered, but the kid had guts to say anything at all just then, really. Dr Thorn growled in a way that was definitely nonhuman. 

Percy sped up half a step to walk alongside the di Angelos, rather than slightly behind where he could keep an eye on them. “Don’t worry about where we’re going,” he mumbled, “focus on the path we’re taking. If things go bad, you’ll need to know how to get back to the school alone.” 

It wouldn’t be the safest mauver, but he’d rather they run back to the school where it was marginally safer than wait around while he fought and potentially get caught in the crossfire. Monsters weren’t above using dirty tricks, especially this one. 

“Halt,” Thorn said. The woods had opened up. They'd reached a cliff overlooking the sea. Technically he couldn’t see the water below, just feel it, but it was there nonetheless. Maybe a hundred meters or so away. He tripped on a rock, and probably would’ve done a spectacular face-plane without Bianca catching him. Damn, his shoulder hurt. 

“Thanks,” Percy murmured.

“What is he?” she whispered. “How do we fight him?”

“Nothing you should mess with, Let me handle this.” 

“I’m scared,” Nico mumbled. He was fiddling with something – a little metal toy soldier of some kind. 

“Stop talking!” Dr Thorn said. “Face me!”

The three of them turned. Thorn’s two-tone eyes glittered hungrily. He pulled something from under his coat - just a phone. He pressed the side button and said, “The package – it is ready to deliver.” There was a garbled reply, and he realized it was more of a walkie-talkie than a phone. 

Percy glanced off the edge of the cliff, wondering if he’d be able to use the water to his advantage here. He’d summoned the river water below the Golden Arch, which was roughly twice the distance of the ocean below them - but that’d been an adrenaline thing, he’s pretty sure. Thorn must have thought he was planning to jump, because he said: 

“By all means, Son of Poseidon. Jump! There is the sea. Save yourself.” 

“What did he call you?” Bianca muttered. 

“Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, nice to meet you. Explanations later.” 

“You do have a plan, right?” 

“Ah, but I would kill you before you ever reached the water,” Dr Thorn said, interrupting them. “You do realize who I am, don’t you?’ A flicker of movement behind him, and another missile whistled so close by Percy could feel it whiz past his ear. Thorn finally showed his tail from beyond the Mist - though if he’d been concentrating a little more Percy would have been able to see it anyway.

“A whole petting zoo in one?” He replied sarcastically. 

“Unfortunately,” the Manticore growled, “you are wanted alive, if possible. Otherwise you would already be dead.” 

“Who wants us?” Bianca demanded. “Because if you think you’ll get a ransom, you’re wrong. We don’t have any family. Nico and I…” Her voice broke a little. “We’ve got no one but each other.”

“Aww,” Dr Thorn said. “Do not worry, little brats. You will be meeting my employer soon enough. Then you will have a brand-new family.” 

Percy scoffed. “Tell the General he can screw off, they’re not going anywhere with you.” (The words ‘the General’ came out in French, naturally.)

The monster’s face went red, enraged, but then something seemed to catch his attention and he turned away, towards the horizon. “Ah, here we are. Your transportation.” 

There was a light in the distance, a searchlight over the sea, as well as the chopping of helicopter blades getting louder and closer. 

“Where are you taking us?” Nico said. 

“You should feel honored, my boy. You will have the opportunity to join a great army! Just like that silly game you play with cards and dolls.”

“They’re not dolls! They’re figurines! And you can take your great army and shov–”

“Now, now,’ Dr Thorn warned. “You will change your mind about joining us, my boy. And, if you do not, well… there are other uses for half-bloods. We have many monstrous mouths to feed. The Great Stirring is underway.”

Oh, he was  _ so  _ disappointed to be robbed of hearing a ten-year-old tell a monster to shove an army up his ass, but under the circumstances it was probably best that Nico didn’t say that in front of his big sister. 

“The Great what?” Percy asked instead of inviting Nico to continue, just to keep Thorn talking a little longer. If he could just keep the monster busy a few more minutes, the cavalry would arrive (if he remembered correctly.) 

“The stirring of monsters.” Dr Thorn smiled evilly. “The worst of them, the most powerful, are now waking. Monsters that have not been seen in thousands of years. They will cause death and destruction the likes of which mortals have never known. And soon we shall have the most important monster of all – the one that shall bring about the downfall of Olympus!”

“Okay,’ Bianca whispered to Percy. “He’s completely nuts.”

“No, no, he’s completely right. Well, he’s wrong because they’re going to fail when I beat them, but monsters and gods and Olympus? Totally real.” 

“Oh, wonderful. You’re completely nuts, too.” 

He would've said something more convincing, maybe, if an invisible force didn’t knock him into the dirt at that very moment. (Pushing the spike further into his shoulder,  _ gods dammit!) _

In all actuality, Annabeth’s idea was really smart. She shoved them all out of the way just in time to avoid more poison-spikes from Thorn when he thought to shoot them, and gave Thalia and Grover a moment of surprise to rush in. The daughter of Zeus was holding up Aegis, as well as her pepper-spray-turned-huge spear, and frankly looked really badass.

Thalia moved in with her spear. “For Zeus!” 

Eh, cliche but he’d allow it. Besides, he was still pushing himself off the ground and debating the consequences of just yanking the poisoned spine from his shoulder right then and there. 

Thalia jabbed at his head, but Thorn snarled and swatted the spear aside. His hand changed into an orange paw with enormous claws that sparked against Thalia’s shield as he slashed. If it hadn’t been for Aegis, Thalia would’ve been sliced like a loaf of bread. As it was, she managed to roll backward and land on her feet.

The sound of the helicopter was getting louder behind them, but he ignored it, choosing to just remove the dam spike and draw Riptide. Blood flowed freely down his arm and coat, which was actually a comforting warmth against the cold of the evening. 

Dr Thorn launched another volley of missiles at Thalia. They all bounced off of Aegis, but the force of their impact knocked Thalia down. 

Grover sprang forward, putting his reed pipes to his lips and beginning to play – a frantic jig that sounded like something pirates would dance to. Grass broke through the snow. Within seconds, rope thick weeds were wrapping round Dr Thorn’s legs, entangling him.

Dr Thorn roared and began to change. He grew larger until he was in his true form – his face still human, but his body that of a huge lion. His leathery, spiky tail whipped deadly thorns in all directions.

“A manticore!” Annabeth said, now visible. Her magical New York Yankees cap had come off when she’d run into them earlier. 

“Who  _ are  _ you people?” Bianca demanded. “And  _ what is that? _ ” 

“A manticore?” Nico gasped. “He’s got three thousand attack power and plus five to saving throws!” 

Percy wanted to ask about that, having never understood Mythomagic all that much even well into his adulthood, but there was no time. The manticore clawed Grover’s magic weeds to shreds then turned towards them with a snarl. 

“Get down!” Annabeth pushed the di Angelos flat into the snow. 

Without thinking, he rolled as far to the side as he could, dodging the volley of spikes. A second later, he heard a thwack and a yelp, and Grover landed next to him with a thud. 

“Yield!” the monster roared. 

“Never!” Thalia yelled from across the field. She charged the monster and, for a second, Percy was sure she’d run him through. He’d even jumped to his feet and was a few feet behind ready to provide backup, but then there was a thunderous noise and a blaze of light from behind them. 

The helicopter appeared out of the mist, hovering just beyond the cliffs. It was a sleek black military-style gunship, with attachments on the sides that looked like laser-guided rockets. The helicopter had to be manned by someone who knew how to use one, and distantly Percy wondered if they’d used the Mist on some mortals or if monsters had learned how to use helicopters. Neither was a great outcome.

The searchlights blinded Thalia, and the manticore swatted her away with its tail. Her shield flew off into the snow. Her spear flew in the other direction. Just in time, he parried away a spike just before it would’ve hit her chest. He activated his watch-shield from Tyson and raised it in front of them, and hoped it’d be enough for a full assault of projectiles.

Dr Thorn laughed. “Now do you see how hopeless it is? Yield, little heroes.” 

He was ready to say screw it and rush in head-first when he heard a clear, piercing sound: the call of a hunting horn blowing in the woods. The manticore froze. For a moment, no one moved. There was only the swirl of snow and wind and the chopping of the helicopter blades. 

“No,” Dr Thorn said. “It cannot be –” His sentence was cut short when something shot past like a streak of moonlight. A glowing silver arrow sprouted from Dr Thorn’s shoulder. He staggered backwards, wailing in agony. “Curse you!” Thorn cried.

Percy grinned.  _ Artemis.  _

The manticore unleashed his spikes, dozens of them at once, into the woods where the arrow had come from, but just as fast, silvery arrows shot back in reply. The huntresses were better than even the Apollo cabin back at camp.

Thorn pulled the arrow out of his shoulder with a howl of pain, his breathing heavy. Percy took the chance to charge with a wide swipe - but he was knocked back with a swish of the monster’s tail. He landed painfully on his shoulder, and was getting up for another try when the huntresses finally stepped out of the woods. 

They were about a dozen or so in number, all girls looking much younger than they actually were, the youngest appearing ten years old. The oldest looking would probably pass for an eighth-grader or freshman at most. They wore silvery ski parkas and jeans, and they were all armed with bows. They advanced on the manticore with determined expressions. 

“The Hunters!” Annabeth cried. 

Next to him, Thalia muttered, “Oh, wonderful.”

One of the older archers stepped forward with her bow drawn. She was tall and graceful with coppery coloredhysteria skin. Zoë. Something painful made itself known in his chest, and Percy sought the leather cords around his neck for a moment.

Unlike the other girls, she had a silver circlet braided into the top of her long dark hair, and she looked like some kind of Persian princess. “Permission to kill, my lady?” Zoë asked, keeping her eyes on Thorn. 

The monster wailed. “This is not fair! Direct interference! It is against the Ancient Laws.”

“Not so,” another girl said. She had auburn hair gathered back in a ponytail and strange eyes, silvery yellow like the moon. Her expression was stern and dangerous, which made it easy to tell that she was Artemis. Even without the aura of godly power around her. “The hunting of all wild beasts is within my sphere. And you, foul creature, are a wild beast.”

Artemis looked to Zoë, saying”‘Zoë, permission granted.”

The manticore growled. “If I cannot have these alive, I shall have them dead!” He lunged at Percy and Thalia.

“No!” Annabeth yelled, and she charged at the monster. 

“Get back, half-blood!” Zoë said. “Get out of the line of fire!” But Annabeth leaped onto the monster’s back and drove her knife into his mane. The manticore howled, turning in circles with his tail flailing as Annabeth hung on for dear life. 

“Fire!” Zoë ordered. 

Before he could protest, the Hunters let their arrows fly. The first caught the manticore in the neck. Another hit his chest. The manticore staggered backward, wailing, “This is not the end, Huntress! You shall pay!” And before anyone could react, the monster, with Annabeth still on his back, leaped over the cliff and tumbled into the darkness. 

“Annabeth!” Percy screamed, running towards the cliffside and not thinking twice as he jumped after them. 

Or tried to. Turns out Bianca was surprisingly fast, and strong, and grabbed him around the waist before he could make the jump. It was frustrating, and he was ready to deck her before remembering that as far as she knew, he was just committing suicide in a fit of hystariya at seeing his friend go off the side of a cliff. It settled him for all of two seconds before he was violently thrashing, working against the poison that was violently making itself known again. 

He found himself sinking to the ground, crying and staring down at the indistinct waters below, searching for Annabeth’s presence. She wasn’t dead. She wasn’t dead, he knew that much. And she wasn’t going to ever  _ be  _ dead until they were super old and died naturally like mortals, and went to Elysium together.

Percy’s mind registered a bunch of crows appearing for some reason, where the helicopter used to be, and the Hunters approaching them. 

“You,” Zoë said with distaste. 

“Zoë Nightshade.” Thalia’s voice trembled with anger. “Perfect timing, as usual.” 

“Four half-bloods and a satyr, my lady.” Was Zoë’s only reply.

“Yes,” Artemis said. “Some of Chiron’s campers, I see.”

Percy gripped Riptide’s leather grip tightly, sobbing silently as he grieved his own failure. She wasn’t dead, but he’d failed Annabeth again all the same and he’d never forgive himself for it. Her rapidly fading presence - being dragged away somewhere by Thorn, no doubt - only served to fuel his grief and frustration.

He refused to turn and greet the Goddess of The Hunt, or any of her Hunters - he refused to acknowledge anyone, really, even Bianca who was speaking to him. Her words were all drowned out by the static in his ears and behind his eyes, but he knew she was probably calling him stupid of asking what the hell he was thinking. 

Honestly, Percy couldn’t answer that kind of question at this point anyway. 

There were some introductions made between the goddess and the half-bloods, (and gratuitous praise from Grover,) before Bianca interrupted all of them. She was standing with her brother now, seeming convinced Percy wasn’t going to dive off any cliffs anytime soon.

“Whoa,” she said. “Hold up. Time out.” Everybody looked at her. She pointed her finger at all of them in turn, like she was trying to connect the dots. “Who… who are you people?”

Artemis’s expression softened. “It might be a better question, my dear girl, to ask who are  _ you?  _ Who are your parents?” 

Bianca glanced nervously at Nico, who was still staring in awe at Artemis. “Our parents are dead,” Bianca said. “We’re orphans. There’s a bank trust that pays for our school, but…” She faltered. Obviously, she could tell no one believed her.

“What”’ she demanded. “I’m telling the truth.”

“You are a half-blood,’ Zoë Nightshade said. ‘One of thy parents was mortal. The other was an Olympian.”

“An Olympian… athlete?” 

“No,” Zoë said. “One of the gods.”

“Cool!” said Nico. 

“No!” Bianca’s voice quavered. “This is not cool!”

Percy was so tired, exhausted of any scrap of emotion that might’ve made him care about this conversation. Shifting into the most comfortable position someone can really sit in on dirt and rock, he contemplated the beads on his camp necklace like they held the answers to his every question - even though there were only two, right now. The first was black, with a simple green trident painted on it, symbolizing his arrival to camp; the other was white, with a golden ram painted on it - the Golden Fleece they retrieved last year. Sometimes he wonders why they chose that over a lightning bolt or something, for Thalia’s return. Or a tree. 

Nico danced around excitedly, expression entirely too innocent for the road ahead of them all. “Does Zeus really have lightning bolts that do six hundred damage? Does he get extra movement points for-”

“Nico, shut up!” Bianca put her hands to her face. “This is not your stupid Mythomagic game, okay? There are no gods!”

It seemed Thalia had at least some sympathy for the di Angelos, because her voice seemed much softer than usual. “Bianca, I know it’s hard to believe. But the gods are still around. Trust me. They’re immortal. And whenever they have kids with regular humans, kids like us, well… Our lives are dangerous.” 

“Dangerous,” Bianca said, “like the girl who fell.”

Percy made a sound between a whine and a sob. Thalia turned away. Even Artemis looked pained. 

“Do not despair for Annabeth,” the goddess said. ‘“he was a brave maiden. If she can be found, I shall find her.”

“Oo!” Nico raised his hand. “What about Dr Thorn? That was awesome how you shot him with arrows! Is he dead?”

“He was a manticore,” Artemis said. “Hopefully, he is destroyed for now, but monsters never truly die. They reform over and over again, and they must be hunted whenever they reappear.”

“Or they’ll hunt us,” Thalia said. 

Bianca di Angelo shivered. “That explains… Nico, you remember last summer, those guys who tried to attack us in the alley in D.C.?”

“And that bus driver,” Nico said. “The one with the ram’s horns. I told you that was real.”

“That’s why Grover has been watching you,” Percy mumbled, looking at his friend. The satyr looked a little sheepish - or… goatish? “In case you turned ou to be half-bloods.” 

“Grover?” Bianca stared at him. “You’re a demigod?”

“Well, a satyr, actually,” he kicked off his shoes and displayed his goat hooves. The daughter of Pluto looked like she might faint. 

“Grover, put your shoes back on,” Thalia said. “You’re freaking her out.” 

“Hey, my hooves are clean!”

“Look, guys, just-” Jeez, did he have to explain  _ everything  _ to the poor kids in front of them? “You need to come to camp with us, okay? You’ll be safe there.”

“Camp?” Bianca asked. 

“Camp Half-Blood. It’s where half-bloods go to live and train, either for the summer or year-round.” 

“Sweet, let’s go!” Nico shouted. 

“Wait,” Bianca shook her head. “I don’t-”

“There _ is  _ another option,” Zoë mentioned. 

“No, there isn’t!” Thalia said.

Honestly, he’d never really understood Thalia’s insistence that no one else joins the Hunters of Artemis. Sure, she didn’t care for it, but that didn’t mean no one could enjoy themselves there. 

Thalia and Zoë glared at each other, neither ready to back down.

“We’ve burdened these children enough,” Artemis announced. “Zoë, we will rest here for a few hours. Raise the tents. Treat the wounded. Retrieve our guests’ belongings from the school.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“And Bianca, come with me. I would like to speak with you.”

“What about me?” Nico asked. Artemis considered him. “Perhaps you can show Grover how to play that card game you enjoy. I’m sure Grover would be happy to entertain you for a while… as a favour to me?”

Grover just about tripped over himself getting up. “You bet! Come on, Nico!” Nico and Grover walked off towards the woods, talking about hit points and armor ratings and a bunch of other geeky stuff. Artemis led a confused-looking Bianca along the cliff. The Hunters began unpacking their backpacks and making camp. 

Zoë gave Thalia one more evil look, then left to oversee things. As soon as she was gone, Thalia stamped her foot in frustration. 

“The nerve of those Hunters! They think they’re so… Argh!”

Percy nodded absentmindedly, tugging and picking at random charms on his necklace. The thing was already beyond its years: leather cracked and dry, plastic charms devoid of paint and bent at awkward angles, making the original shapes unrecognizable. Still, some part of him couldn’t just throw it away, or even stop wearing it. 

“-t were you thinking back there in the gym, Percy? You’d take on Dr Thorn all by yourself? You knew he was a monster!” He caught more of Thalia’s ranting. “If we’d stuck together, we could’ve taken him without the Hunters getting involved. Annabeth might still be here. Did you think of that?”

His jaw clenched. There was nothing to say - he was sorry enough as is, couldn’t everyone just leave him alone with his thoughts for a while? Something navy blue caught his eye as he glanced between the daughter of Zeus and his sneakers. Annabeth’s New York Yankees baseball cap. Gently, he retrieved it, and found tears streaming down his face again. 

Thalia didn’t say another word; either she was out of things to say or just wanted to be alone now, too. She wiped a tear from her cheek, turned and marched off, leaving him alone with a worn cap and the cliffside behind him. 

  
  
  
  



	3. Fun in the sun with haiku

The Hunters set up their campsite in a matter of minutes. Seven large tents, all of silver silk, curved in a crescent around one side of a bonfire. One of the girls blew a silver dog whistle, and a dozen white wolves appeared out of the woods. They began circling the camp like guard dogs. The Hunters walked among them and fed them treats, completely unafraid, but he wasn’t really in the mood to play with a wild animal’s patience. 

Falcons watched them from the trees, their eyes flashing in the firelight; obviously, they were on guard duty, too. Even the weather seemed to bend to the goddess’s will. The air was still cold, but the wind died down and the snow stopped falling, so it was almost pleasant sitting by the fire. 

Almost… except for the pain in his shoulder and burning guilt in his gut. Or maybe that was the poison. The blood was no longer flowing freely - which was either good or really, really bad. He didn’t care. 

Thalia was pacing in the snow at the edge of camp, walking among the wolves without fear. She stopped and looked back at Westover Hall, which was now completely dark, looming on the hillside beyond the woods. She probably had a lot on her mind at the moment. She’d only been human again for a few months now, after seven years of being a tree. Must have a lot of time to think as a tree. Then again, maybe not. Maybe that’s why she stood so still, sometimes, lost in thought: because she still needed to catch up on seven years of thinking. 

Finally, one of the Hunters brought Percy his backpack. Grover and Nico returned from their walk, and Grover helped me fix up his shoulder. 

“It’s green!” Nico said with delight. 

“Hold still,” Grover spoke softly. “Here, eat some ambrosia while I clean that out.”

The ambrosia and magic salve the satyr used helped a lot. His shoulder and arm still ached a bit, but it was a lot better. Hopefully his mom wouldn’t be too upset about his completely ruined coat - covered in blood and torn beyond repair on the right side. 

Nico rummaged through his own bag, which the Hunters had apparently packed for him, though how they got it from Westover Hall was a mystery. Nico laid out a bunch of figurines in the snow - little battle replicas of Greek gods and heroes. There was Zeus with a lightning bolt, Ares with a spear, Apollo with his sun chariot. 

“Big collection,” Percy said with a small smile. 

Nico grinned. “I’ve got almost all of them, plus their holographic cards! Well, except for a few really rare ones.”

“You’ve been playing this game a long time?”

“Just this year. Before that…” He knitted his eyebrows. 

The son of Poseidon didn’t press the kid on it - Nico had been bitter about all those lost memories for a long time, when he grew up.

“I forgot. That’s weird.” He looked unsettled, but it didn’t last long. “Hey, can I see that sword you were using?” 

He uncapped Riptide, letting it glint in the light of the fire. 

“Cool! Does it ever run out of ink?”

“I dunno. Only written with it a few times,” He replied, pressing the cap to the sword’s hilt to show off the ballpoint tip with it’s golden ink.

“Are you really the son of Poseidon?”

“Yup.” 

“Can you surf really well, then?” Grover looked like he was trying hard not to laugh, when Percy looked at him. 

“I mean, yeah, but not naturally. I have to make the waves carry me, sorta.” 

Nico went on asking questions. Did Percy fight a lot with Thalia, since she was a daughter of Zeus? (‘I don’t let my parents choose my friends, kid.’) If Annabeth’s mother was Athena, the goddess of wisdom, then why didn’t Annabeth know better than to fall off a cliff? (He winced, and said that sometimes saving your friends was more important than being smart.) Was Annabeth his girlfriend? (‘Not yet. Working on that, though.’) Grover blushed and seemed surprised at the last answer. Percy trusted him not to spill the secret for now. 

It seemed like the son of Pluto (should he really keep saying Pluto, or would Hades be better? Technically it was the same thing but not - why did he ever have to meet the Roman gods…) was gearing up to fire another round of questions, when Zoë Nightshade approached them. 

“Percy Jackson.” She studied him distastefully, like he was a bag of dirty laundry she’d been sent to fetch. Honestly, knowing some of the guys Artemis and her huntresses had dealt with, he didn’t blame her. 

“Come with me,” she said. “Lady Artemis wishes to speak with thee.”

Zoë led him to the last tent, which looked no different from the others, and waved him inside. Bianca di Angelo was seated next to Artemis. 

The inside of the tent was warm and comfortable. Silk rugs and pillows covered the floor. In the center, a golden brazier of fire seemed to burn without fuel or smoke. Behind the goddess, on a polished oak display stand, was her huge silver bow, carved to resemble gazelle horns. The walls were hung with animal pelts - black bear, tiger and several others more monster-like. Grover probably would’ve had a heart attack at the sight. Beside the goddess, a deer with glittering fur and silver horns had its head resting contentedly in her lap. 

“Join us, Percy Jackson,” Artemis said. 

He sat down. “You know you can all just call me Percy, right? Not a lot of them around to differentiate between.” 

The goddess studied him with the same contemplative look a lot of gods had on their face when they saw him. After all these years, he still wasn’t sure what it meant, but it was almost the exact same one every time. (Except for when they got angry.)

“Are you surprised by my age?” she asked. 

“Not... really? I mean, it’s weird that someone Zoeso ancient can look so young, but my own dad barely seems past middle-aged.”

“I could appear as a grown woman, or a blazing fire, or anything else I want, but this is what I prefer. This is the average age of my Hunters, and all young maidens for whom I am patron, before they go astray.”

“Before they hit puberty? Or discover their sexuality?” Not that he judged their lifestyle at all, he just didn’t feel the same way. Love isn’t a bad thing, no matter how you personally do or don’t experience it. 

“Grow up. Become smitten with boys. Become silly, preoccupied, insecure. Forget themselves.”

Zoë sat down to Artemis’s right. She glared at him as if he was solely responsible for every crush young girls experienced. 

“You must forgive my Hunters if they do not welcome you,” Artemis said. “It is very rare that we would have boys in this camp. Boys are usually forbidden to have any contact with the Hunters. The last one to see this camp…” She looked at Zoë. “Which one was it?”

“That boy in Colorado,” Zoë said. “You turned him into a jackalope.”

“Ah, yes.” Artemis nodded, satisfied. “I enjoy making jackalopes. At any rate, Percy, I’ve asked you here so that you might tell me more of the manticore. Bianca has reported some of the… mmm, disturbing things the monster said. But she may not have understood them. I’d like to hear them from you.”

So he told her the story. When he was done, Artemis put her hand thoughtfully on her silver bow. “I feared this was the answer.”

Zoë sat forward. “The scent, my lady?”

“Yes.”

“Scent?” Percy asked, making sure he was still on the right track.

“Things are stirring that I have not hunted in millennia,” Artemis murmured. “Prey so old I have nearly forgotten.” 

She stared at him intently. “We came here tonight sensing the manticore, but he was not the one I seek. Tell me again, exactly what Dr Thorn said.”

“Well, it was actually what I said. I have a pretty good idea of who he’s working for, and was trying to distract him. I said the General can screw off with whatever his plans are.”

Zoë’s face paled. She turned to Artemis and started to say something, but Artemis raised her hand. 

“Go on, Percy,” the goddess said. 

“Well, he got angry of course. Said that ‘soon we shall have the most important monster of all – the one that shall bring about the downfall of Olympus.”’ 

The goddess was so still she could’ve been a statue. 

“...Maybe it’s not as bad as you’re thinking,” he said, trying to be reassuring.

Artemis shook her head. “No, this is my fault anyhow. I’ve been too slow to see the signs. I must hunt this monster.”

Zoë looked like she was trying very hard not to be afraid, but she nodded. “We will leave right away, my lady.”

“No, Zoë. I must do this alone.”

“But, Artemis-”

“This task is too dangerous even for the Hunters. You know where I must start my search. You cannot go there with me.”

“As… as you wish, my lady.”

“I will find this creature,’Artemis vowed. “And I shall bring it back to Olympus by winter solstice. It will be all the proof I need to convince the Council of the Gods of how much danger we are in.”

“So you already know who the General is,” Percy spoke grimly. It’s not every day you fight your dad to the death; he could have some sympathy. 

Artemis gripped her bow. “Let us pray I am wrong.”

“Can goddesses pray?” He asked with a smirk. Honestly, he’d never heard another god pray except to their own parents before, and that was in very dire situations.

A flicker of a smile played across Artemis’s lips. “Before I go, Percy, I have a small task for you.”

“Doesn’t involve becoming a jackalope, does it?” 

“Sadly, no. I want you to escort the Hunters back to Camp Half-Blood. They can stay there in safety until I return.”

“What?” Zoë blurted out. “But, Artemis, we hate that place. The last time we stayed there-” 

“Yes, I know,” Artemis said. “But I’m sure Dionysus will not hold a grudge just because of a little, ah, misunderstanding. It’s your right to use Cabin Eight whenever you are in need. Besides, I hear they rebuilt the cabins you burned down.”

Zoë muttered something about foolish campers. 

“And now there is one last decision to make.” Artemis turned to Bianca. 

“Have you made up your mind, my girl?” 

Bianca hesitated. “I’m still thinking about it.” 

Percy turned to her, wise-cracking over. “Think hard about it, Bianca. I can’t make your choices for you, just… think about Nico.” 

She seemed surprised that he knew already, but nodded solemnly. 

“The boy will be going with you to that camp, no?” Zoë said. “He will be… as fine as any that end up there are.” 

Artemis spoke, when the tent had quieted once more: “My Hunters follow me on my adventures. They are my maidservants, my companions, my sisters-in-arms. Once they swear loyalty to me, they are immortal… unless they fall in battle, which is unlikely. Or break their oath.”

“I always forget,” he said. “Is the oath to never fall in love, or just not act on those feelings?”

“It is to forswear romantic love forever,” Artemis said. “To never grow up, never get married. To be a maiden eternally.” 

That didn’t exactly answer his question, but that wasn’t really new with gods. 

“You can see your brother from time to time,” Artemis assured Bianca. “But you will be free of responsibility. He will have the camp counselors to take care of him. And you will have a new family. Us.”

“A new family,” Bianca repeated dreamily. “Free of responsibility.” 

Percy shook his head, looking away from them all. He couldn’t even imagine abandoning Estelle like that. They may not be the closest siblings because of their age difference, but if he was in Bianca’s situation… really, he didn’t think he could leave any of his friends like that, let alone a sibling. 

Then again, that is his fatal flaw. Loyal to the end, even when if it means pain and suffering. 

She looked at Zoë. “Is it worth it?? 

Zoë nodded. “It is.”

“What do I have to do?”

“Say this,” Zoë told her, “I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis.’”

“I… I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis.”

“‘I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood and join the Hunt.”’ 

Bianca repeated the lines. “That’s it?”

Zoë nodded. “If Lady Artemis accepts thy pledge, then it is binding.”

“I accept it,” Artemis said. The flames in the brazier brightened, casting a silver glow over the room. 

Bianca looked no different, but she took a deep breath and opened her eyes wide. “I feel… stronger.”

“Welcome, sister,” Zoë said. 

“Remember your pledge,” Artemis said. “It is now your life.” 

He felt like this was somehow another failure on his part. Another failure to one of his friends - to Nico. 

“Do not despair, Percy Jackson,” Artemis said. “You will still get to show the di Angelos your camp. And if Nico so chooses, he can stay there.”

“Yeah, I know. But… it’s pretty far to go, even with your huntresses coming along.”

Artemis closed her eyes. “Dawn is approaching. Zoë, break camp. You must get to Long Island quickly and safely. I shall summon a ride from my brother.”

Zoë didn’t look very happy about this idea, but she nodded and told Bianca to follow her. As she was leaving, Bianca paused in front of him. 

“I’m sorry, Percy. But I want this. I really, really do.”

“I get it. But you get to tell Nico, I had no part in this, got it? I don’t need a ten-year-old hating me forever, especially a half-blood.” 

Bianca nodded with a strained smile, then she was gone. 

“So, you’re calling your brother to give us a ride?” Percy asked. 

Artemis’s silver eyes gleamed. “Yes, boy. You see, Bianca di Angelo is not the only one with an annoying brother. It’s time for you to meet my irresponsible twin, Apollo.”

Artemis assured them that dawn was coming, though it would’ve been hard to tell to anyone else - it was colder and darker and snowier than ever. Up on the hill, Westover Hall’s windows were completely lightless. He wondered how long it’d take for the teachers and students to forget about Thorn and the di Angelos, under the influence of the Mist.

The Hunters broke camp as quickly as they’d set it up. Percy stood out in the snow, coat replaced with a spare sweater from his bag. ( _ Thank you, mom _ .) Artemis stared into the east like she was expecting something, and Bianca sat off to one side, talking with Nico. The kid looked miserable, probably because of his sister’s decision to join the Hunt. 

Thalia and Grover came up and huddled around Percy, anxious to hear what had happened during his audience with the goddess. He told them, but mostly kept his eyes on Nico, looking for signs of a kid looking to run away. Some things were beyond his control, but… not this. Hopefully.

Grover turned pale at the news he delivered. “The last time the Hunters visited camp, it didn’t go well.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine. They’ll run off into the woods again eventually, disappearing just as suddenly as they appeared. Seriously, how do they  _ do  _ that?” He mumbled the last part. 

“And Bianca joined them,” Thalia said, disgusted. “It’s all Zoë’s fault. That stuck-up, no good-”

“Who can blame her?” Grover said. “Eternity with Artemis?” He heaved a big sigh. 

Thalia rolled her eyes. “You satyrs. You’re all in love with Artemis. Don’t you get that she’ll never love you back?”

“But she’s so… into nature,” Grover swooned. 

“You’re nuts,” she grumbled. 

“Nuts and berries,” Grover said dreamily. “Yeah.” 

Finally the sky began to lighten. Artemis muttered, “About time. He’s sooo lazy during the winter.”

“Waiting for the sunrise?” Percy asked. 

“For my brother. Yes.”

“You know, the mortals explain it away with the axis of the Earth and stuff. Kinda weird how wrong they got it, huh?” 

“Indeed,” Artemis replied. 

It’d taken a long time to fully…  _ comprehend _ just how wrong mortal science was; even well into his adult years he still found himself looking at models of the universe, trying to figure out just how much of it was the Mist and how much was semi-accurate.

There was a sudden burst of light on the horizon, interrupting his thoughts. A blast of warmth. 

“Don’t look,” Artemis advised. “Not until he parks.”

Right - avert thine eyes from godly happenings, or whatever. The light and warmth intensified until his winter coat felt like it was melting off, and then suddenly the light died. 

Looking back, he saw a red convertible Maserati Spyder. Percy vaguely recalled Apollo trying out the form of a Mercedes for a while at some point, but this was still pretty familiar. The car was glowing, it was so hot; the snow had melted round the Maserati in a perfect circle, soaked green grass replacing what had once been snow. 

The driver got out, smiling. He looked about seventeen or eighteen, and had the same sandy hair and outdoorsy good looks as Luke Castellan. But it wasn’t Luke, obviously. This guy was taller, with no scar on his face, and his smile was genuine and bright. Apollo wore jeans and loafers and a sleeveless T-shirt, looking about as carefree as they come. 

Percy grinned, once again reminded that not  _ all  _ the gods were horrible - a little annoying, maybe, but generally okay. Like Poseidon and Hermes, or Hades when his wife was around.

“Wow,” Thalia muttered. “Apollo is hot.”

“He  _ is _ the sun god,” Percy said.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Little sister!” Apollo called. If his teeth were any whiter he could’ve blinded them all without the sun car. “What’s up? You never call. You never write. I was getting worried!” 

Artemis sighed. “I’m fine, Apollo. And I am not your  _ little _ sister.”

“Hey, I was born first.”

“We’re twins! How many millennia do we have to argue-”

“So what’s up?” he interrupted. “Got the girls with you, I see. You all need some tips on archery?”

Artemis gritted her teeth. “I need a favor. I have some hunting to do, alone. I need you to take my companions to Camp Half-Blood.”

“Sure, sis!” Then he raised his hands in a stop everything gesture. “I feel a haiku coming on.”

The Hunters all groaned. Apparently they’d heard many of the Sun God’s haikus before. He cleared his throat and held up one hand dramatically. 

“Green grass breaks through snow. 

Artemis pleads for my help. 

I am super cool.”

Apollo stood, waiting for applause. For whatever reason, Percy was feeling the lightest he had since arriving at Westover Hall. Figuring this good mood wouldn’t last long considering the circumstances, he was going to take full advantage.

“The sun has arrived, 

We all really need a ride, 

Nice to meet you, dude.” 

The huntresses all glared at him, for encouraging this. Grover and Thalia looked like they wanted to ask what the hell he was doing, but were too polite and too confused respectively. The Sun God looked ecstatic. 

“Ah, a fellow poet! My little sis has some good company for on-”

“Ahem,” Artemis interrupted. “Brother, my Hunters require transportation, as well as these Demigods. They are some of Chiron’s campers.”

“No problem!” Apollo checked them all out. “Let’s see… Thalia, right? I’ve heard all about you.”

Thalia blushed. “Hi, Lord Apollo.”

“Zeus’s girl, yes? Makes you my half-sister. Used to be a tree, didn’t you? Glad you’re back. I hate it when pretty girls turn into trees. Man, I remember one time-”

“Brother,” Artemis said. “You should get going.” 

“Oh, right.” Then he looked at Percy, and smiled. “Percy Jackson, yeah? Nice to meet someone who really appreciates the art of poetry.”

“Yeah, right back at you.”

“Well!” he said at last. “We’d better load up, huh? Ride only goes one way - west. And if you miss it, you miss it.”

“Cool car,” Nico said, looking at the Maserati. 

“Thanks, kid,” Apollo said. 

“But how will we all fit?”

“Oh.” Apollo seemed to notice the problem for the first time. “Well, yeah. I hate to change out of sports-car mode, but I suppose…” He took out his car keys and beeped the security alarm button. Chirp, chirp. For a moment, the car glowed brightly again. When the glare died, the Maserati had been replaced by one of those small buses just like for school basketball games. 

“Right,” the god said. “Everybody in.”

Zoë ordered the Hunters to start loading. She picked up her camping pack, and Apollo said, “Here, sweetheart. Let me get that.”

Zoë recoiled. Her eyes flashed murderously. 

“Brother” Artemis chided. “You do not help my Hunters. You do not look at, talk to, or flirt with my Hunters. And you do not call them sweetheart.”

Apollo spread his hands. “Sorry. I forgot. Hey, sis, where are you off to, anyway?”

“Hunting,” Artemis said. “It’s none of your business.”

“I’ll find out. I see all. Know all.”

Artemis snorted. “Just drop them off, Apollo. And no messing around!”

“No, no! I never mess around.”

She rolled her eyes, then looked to everyone else. “I will see you by winter solstice. Zoë, you are in charge of the Hunters. Do well. Do as I would do.” 

Zoë straightened. “Yes, my lady.”

Artemis knelt and touched the ground as if looking for tracks. When she rose, she looked troubled. “So much danger. The beast must be found.” She sprinted towards the woods and melted into the snow and shadows. 

Apollo turned and grinned, jangling the car keys on his finger. “So,” he said. “Who wants to drive?”

_ Preferably someone who knows how to drive this time, please,  _ Percy thought.

The Hunters piled into the van. They all crammed into the back so they’d be as far away as possible from Apollo and the rest of the highly infectious males. Bianca sat with them, leaving her little brother to hang in the front with us, which fortunately Nico didn’t seem to mind. 

“This is so cool!” he said, jumping up and down in the driver’s seat. “Is this really the sun? I thought Helios and Selene were the sun and moon gods. How come sometimes it’s them and sometimes it’s you and Artemis?”

“Downsizing,’” Apollo said. “The Romans started it. They couldn’t afford all those temple sacrifices, so they laid off Helios and Selene and folded their duties into our job descriptions. My sis got the moon. I got the sun. It was pretty annoying at first, but at least I got this cool car.”

“But how does it work?” Nico asked. “I thought the sun was a big fiery ball of gas!”

Apollo chuckled and ruffled Nico’s hair. “That rumor probably got started because Artemis used to call me a big fiery ball of gas. Seriously, kid, it depends on whether you’re talking astronomy or philosophy. You want to talk astronomy? Bah, what fun is that? You want to talk about how humans think about the sun? Ah, now that’s more interesting. They’ve got a lot riding on the sun… er, so to speak. It keeps them warm, grows their crops, powers engines, makes everything look, well, sunnier. This chariot is built out of human dreams about the sun, kid. It’s as old as Western Civilization. Every day, it drives across the sky from east to west, lighting up all those puny little mortal lives. The chariot is a manifestation of the sun’s power, the way mortals perceive it. Make sense?”

Nico shook his head. “No.”

“Well then, just think of it as a really powerful, really dangerous solar car.”

“Can I drive?” 

“No. Too young.”

“Oo! Oo!” Grover raised his hand. 

“Mm, no,” Apollo said. “Too furry.” 

He looked past Percy, and zeroed in on Thalia. (Who, for the record, did not seem hyped about being in a flying car. Seriously, a daughter of Zeus who was afraid of heights, and a son of Poseidon who was (formerly) afraid of drowning?) Not wanting a repeat of Thalia’s… _ crash-course _ in driving, Percy panicked, and blurted: 

“I can drive! My mom taught me, uhm, earlier this year.” 

“Really?” Apollo looked at him quizzically. “You’re a bit young to drive, kid.” 

“I was a bit young to fight the Minotaur, too.” 

The god laughed, smile lines apparent even on his young face. “Fair enough. Sure, come on up. Ol’ daddy Zeus won’t shoot the sun chariot out of the sky, even if you’re driving. Probably.” 

Apollo hit a button on the dashboard, and a sign popped up along the top of the windscreen. Percy had to read it backward, (which, for a dyslexic really isn’t that different to reading forward) but was pretty sure it said WARNING: STUDENT DRIVER. 

“Take it away!” he said. “You already got the basics down, yeah?”

Percy nodded, distantly thankful that the sun chariot wasn’t a stick-shift. Technically, his mom  _ had  _ let him try out her Mazda earlier this year, and he hadn’t done too bad considering he’d never had any professional lessons. More like his friends had forced him to practice with Piper’s car in an old parking lot so he could stop skipping out on being a designated driver for parties. He wasn’t  _ great,  _ but he’d be better than an acrophobic teen who’d turned into a tree at twelve and only recently came out looking only fifteen for all the years that’d passed. 

“Speed equals heat,” Apollo advised. “So start slowly, and make sure you’ve got good altitude before you really open her up.”

“Got it.” 

He made sure to go slow, eventually picking up speed when he figured they were at a decent height. As a son of Poseidon, he was naturally wary of being in Zeus’s domain, but Apollo had been right earlier; the Lord of the Sky likely wouldn’t risk shooting down the sun half-way through a ride. 

A few minutes went by, the only interruptions being some general directions from Apollo, like ‘go left. Uh, the other left. A little more speed won’t kill anybody. Pull up, you’re parboiling the fish, don’t think your dad’ll be too happy about that.’

Grover seemed impressed with his friend’s ability to not send them all hurtling straight into the earth like a meteor the size of… well, the sun, and Thalia was gripping her seat for dear life. Every jerk from turning directions a little sharply or increase in speed made her jump. Honestly, Percy felt bad for her. But they’d be at camp before too long, anyway. 

“There!” Apollo pointed. “Long Island, dead ahead. Make sure to slow down before you stop, dead is only an expression.” 

And there it was, Camp Half-Blood: the valley, the woods, the beach. He could see the white of the marble buildings ahead, maybe a quarter mile away. Easing up on the accelerator and slowly pressing down on the break, he touched down wobbly at the foot of Half Blood Hill. A decent sized streak of grass was black and smoking from when he’d flinched and pressed on the accelerator on the way down, but otherwise they were unharmed. They’d have to hike up the side to get into camp, but it was safer than trying to avoid any buildings or people to land inside bounds. 

“Well,” the Sun God said. “Looks like you really do know your stuff, kid. Let’s go see if we charred any unsuspecting bunnies, shall we?”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	4. Nightmare nights

It’d been a few years since he’d seen Camp Half-Blood in winter, and the snow was a little surprising; seeing as nothing weather-wise gets past the protective dome unless Mr. D wants it to, and he wasn’t known for being very cheery or letting things happen to make the campers too happy. 

The cabins were decorated with tiny flickering lights, like Christmas lights, except they were balls of real fire. More lights glowed in the woods, and a fire flickered in the attic window of the Big House where the Oracle dwelt.

“Whoa,” Nico said as he climbed off the bus. “Is that a climbing wall?”

“Yeah,” Percy answered. 

“Why is there lava pouring down it?”

“Little extra challenge, you know. C’mon, you should come meet Chiron. Zoë, you wanna-”

“I know Chiron,” Zoë said stiffly. “Tell him we will be in Cabin Eight. Hunters, follow me.”

“I’ll show you the way,” Grover offered. 

“We know the way.” 

“Oh, really, it’s no trouble. It’s easy to get lost here, if you don’t-” he tripped over a canoe and came up still talking- “like my old daddy goat used to say! Come on!”

Zoë rolled her eyes, but seemed to figure there was no getting rid of Grover. The Hunters shouldered their packs and their bows and headed off towards the cabins. As Bianca di Angelo was leaving, she leaned over and whispered something in her brother’s ear. She looked at him for an answer, but Nico just scowled and turned away. 

“Take care, sweethearts!” Apollo called after the Hunters. He winked at the son of Poseidon. “Watch out for those prophecies, Percy. I’ll see you soon.”

“Wouldn’t happen to have any information about incoming prophecies, would you?” Percy asked, doubtful and already turning away, knowing he wouldn’t get any good answers.

Indeed, instead of answering, Apollo just hopped back in the bus. 

“Later, Thalia,” he called. “And, uh, be good!” He gave her a wicked smile, as if he knew something she didn’t. Then he closed the doors and revved the engine. They all turned away as the sun chariot took off in a blast of heat. The lake was steaming in the chariot’s wake.

Nico was still looking grumpy, and Percy wondered what Bianca had said to him.

“Who’s Chiron?” he asked. “I don’t have his figurine.”

“Our activities director. I don’t think he’d have a figurine, he’s not a god or widely-known hero like Hercules or Achilles. But he’s still really cool.” 

“If those Hunter girls don’t like him,” Nico grumbled, “that’s good enough for me. Let’s go.”

The second thing that felt off about camp was how empty it was. Sure, it’d only be the year-rounders at camp by now, and there were only a few of those, but still. Almost all of the time he ever spent at camp was during the summer - first as a camper, then as a part-time counselor when the mortal world got too boring. 

He spotted some of the year-rounders on their way to the Big Cabin; Charles Beckendorf stoking the forge outside the camp armory, the Stoll brothers, Travis and Connor, picking the lock on the camp store. A few kids from the Ares cabin were having a surprisingly non-lethal snowball fight with the wood nymphs at the edge of the forest. That was all Percy saw, but he figured at least a few others were around, holed up inside from the cold - certainly any Hypnos kids that stayed behind. 

The Big House was decorated with strings of red and yellow fireballs that warmed the porch but wouldn’t actually set the building on fire, thankfully. Inside, flames crackled in the hearth. The air smelled like hot chocolate. 

Mr D and Chiron were playing a quiet game of cards in the parlordefense. Chiron’s brown beard was shaggier for the winter, and his curly hair had grown a little longer. He wore a fuzzy sweater with a hoof-print design on it, and he had a blanket on his lap that almost hid his wheelchair completely. He smiled when he saw them approaching. 

“Percy! Thalia! Ah, and this must be-” 

“Nico di Angelo,’ Percy said. “He and his sister are half-bloods.” 

Chiron breathed a sigh of relief. “You succeeded, then.”

“I guess you could say that,” he said, suddenly unable to meet the centaurs' eyes. He twisted the ring around his thumb nervously. (Recently replaced, with the last one being too small now. This one was custom ordered from Beckndorf at the end of last summer - plain celestial bronze with engravings of ocean waves. The two silver ones were just resized.) 

Chiron’s smile melted. “What’s wrong? And where is Annabeth?”

“Oh, dear,” Mr D said in a bored voice. “Not another one lost.”

Percy didn’t really care for Mr D, but he was a little hard to ignore in his neon-orange leopard-skin warm-up suit and his purple running shoes. (Like Dionysus had ever run a day in his immortal life...) A golden laurel wreath was tilted sideways on his curly black hair, which must’ve meant he’d won the last hand of cards. 

“What do you mean?” Thalia asked. “Who else is lost?” 

Just then, Grover trotted into the room, grinning like crazy. He had a black eye and red lines on his face that looked like a slap mark. “The Hunters are all moved in!”

Chiron frowned. “The Hunters, eh? I see we have much to talk about.” He glanced at Nico. “Grover, perhaps you should take our young friend to the den and show him our orientation film.”

“But… Oh, right. Yes, sir.”

“Orientation film?” Nico asked. ‘“Is it G or PG? Cause Bianca is kinda strict-” 

“It’s PG-13,” Grover said. 

“Cool!” Nico happily followed him out of the room. 

“Now,” Chiron said to he and Thalia, “perhaps you two should sit down and tell us the whole story.” 

And they did. Percy was glad that his little breakdown on the cliff was left out, and in return he said nothing of Thalia’s own less-than-kind reaction to Annabeth’s fall. 

When they were done, Chiron turned to Mr D. “We should launch a search for Annabeth immediately.”

“I’ll go,” Percy and Thalia said at the same time. 

Mr D sniffed. “Certainly not!”

Thalia immediately started complaining, and Perry sent the best death-glare he could at the camp director, but Mr D held up his hand. He had that purplish angry fire in his eyes that usually meant something bad and godly was going to happen if stupid campers didn’t shut up. 

“From what you have told me,” Mr D said,”‘we have broken even on this escapade. We have, ah, regrettably lost Annie Bell-”

“Annabeth,” the son of Poseidon snapped. She’d gone to camp since she was seven, and still Mr D pretended not to know her name. It was pretty cruel, even to protect himself from getting too attached to non-immortal beings. 

“Yes, yes,” he said. “And you procured a small annoying boy to replace her. So I see no point risking further half-bloods on a ridiculous rescue. The possibility is very great that this Annie girl is dead.”

Something roiled in Percy’s gut. A dark feeling, like the first time he’d made poison bend to his will, thicker and more polluted than any water he’d ever touched. Or when he’d escorted a group of half-bloods back to camp, barely into his twenties, and had turned an unfortunate monster into a not-so-living raisin after having Riptide knocked away.

“Annabeth may be alive,” Chiron said, but it was easy to tell he was having trouble sounding upbeat. He’d practically raised Annabeth all those years she was a year-round camper, before she’d given living with her dad and stepmom a second try. “She’s very bright. If… if our enemies have her, she will try to play for time. She may even pretend to cooperate.”

“That’s right,” Thalia said. “Luke would want her alive.”

“In which case,” said Mr D, “I’m afraid she will have to be smart enough to escape on her own.”

Percy got up from the table. 

“Percy.” Chiron’s tone was full of warning. 

But all he did was move away from the table, leaning against the farthest wall and crossing his arms, trying to control his own breathing. Fresh air might’ve helped, but he needed to hear the rest of this conversation - get an idea of the plan right now so he could work around it later. 

Dionysus looked ready to say something, probably about insolent brats knowing what’s good for them, when Nico burst into the room, followed by Grover.

“SO COOL!” he yelled, holding his hands out to Chiron. “You’re… you’re a centaur!”

Chiron managed a nervous smile. “Yes, Mr di Angelo, if you please. Though, I prefer to stay in human form in this wheelchair for, ah, first encounters.” 

“And, whoa!” He looked at Mr D. “You’re the wine dude? No way!” 

Mr D turned to the kid and gave Nico a look of loathing. “ _ The wine dude?”  _

“Dionysus, right? Oh, wow! I’ve got your figurine.”

“My figurine.” 

“In my game, Mythomagic. And a holofoil card, too! And even though you’ve only got like five hundred attack points and everybody thinks you’re the lamest god card, I totally think your powers are sweet!”

“Ah.” Mr D seemed truly perplexed, which probably saved the poor kid’s life. “Well, that’s… gratifying.”

“Percy,” Chiron said quickly, “you and Thalia go down to the cabins. Inform the campers we’ll be playing capture the flag tomorrow evening.”

“Capture the flag?” Percy said. “Don’t think we have enough for a good match.” 

“It is a tradition, a friendly match, whenever the Hunters visit.”

“Yeah,” Thalia muttered. “I bet it’s real friendly.”

The centaur jerked his head towards Mr D, who was still frowning as Nico talked about how many defence points all the gods had in his game. 

“Run along now,” Chiron told them. 

“Oh, right,” Thalia said. “Come on, Percy.”

She hauled him out of the Big House before Dionysus could remember that Percy had literally  _ walked away  _ from an argument with a god.

“You’ve already got Ares on your bad side,” Thalia reminded him as they trudged towards the cabins. “You need another immortal enemy?”

“Technically, I didn’t do anything wrong. I separated myself from a source of aggression to calm down and reassess the situation. I think Dr. Keene would be very proud of me.” 

“Keene?” She asked. 

“Oh, uhm, my therapist. Nice dude.”

“Good for you.” He wasn’t sure if she was being genuine or just didn’t know how to respond. Most people don’t

They walked in silence for a little longer, pausing outside the armory for no particular reason. It just seemed like a good place to slow down for a minute. 

“You know we’ll get Annabeth back, right?” Percy said. 

“First I found out that Luke is lost,” Thalia crossed her arms. “Now Annabeth-” 

“Hey, you shouldn’t think like that. We’ll figure things out.”

“You’re right.” She straightened up. “We’ll find a way.” 

Over at the basketball court, a few of the Hunters were shooting hoops. One of them was arguing with a guy from the Ares cabin. The Ares kid had his hand on his sword and the Hunter girl looked like she was going to exchange her basketball for a bow and arrow any second. 

“I’ll break that up,” Thalia said. “You circulate around the cabins. Tell everybody about capture the flag tomorrow.”

“All right. You should be team captain.”

“No, no,” she said. “You’ve been at camp longer. You do it.”

“I think you’re a more natural leader. Trust me, you don’t want me in charge,” he smiled self-deprecatingly. He could lead a game of capture the flag, but she needed this more. 

She shook her head lightly, but nodded all the same. As she headed for the court, he called after her, “Hey, Thalia.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry about what happened at Westover. I should’ve waited for you guys. You were right.”

“’ S okay, Percy. I probably would’ve done the same thing.” She shifted from foot to foot, like she was trying to decide whether or not to say more. “You know, we talked about your mom back at Westover, and I know Annabeth probably told you about her dad already. But you never pushed me about my own parents.” 

“None of my business. But if you wanna share, I’m always here to lend an ear.” 

“Well… I went back to find her after seven years, and I found out she died in Los Angeles. She, um… she was a heavy drinker, and apparently she was out driving late one night about two years ago, and…”

Thalia blinked hard. 

“I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, well. It’s… it’s not like we were ever close. I ran away when I was ten. Best two years of my life were when I was running around with Luke and Annabeth. But still-” 

“And now you feel like you’re alone here, with them gone, right?” 

“Yeah,” she muttered. “Pretty much.” 

“You know, your dad may hate my guts.” 

“I heard something like that.” 

“But… I’ve never let my parents decide who my friends are. If you need someone on your side.”

Thalia nodded, and trudged off towards the court. The Ares camper and the Hunter were currently trying to kill each other with a sword and a basketball.

The cabins were the same as ever - or at least the same as they were last year. There were a few additions missing that wouldn’t come for a few years yet. But there were Zeus and Hera’s big white-columned buildings that stood in the middle, with five gods’ cabins on the left and five goddesses’ cabins on the right, making a U ‘round the central green and the barbecue hearth. 

He made the rounds, telling everybody about capture the flag. Some Ares kid was taking a midday nap, and Percy asked about Clarisse.

‘Went on a quest for Chiron. Top secret!”

Right, he’d never actually seen her off when she went on her quest to the Labyrinth. She was just declared missing in action after a month or so of silence, and wouldn’t be back for a while. Percy wondered if she’d find Chris again, and if she did then maybe they could save him this time. All depends on how long the poor guy’s been in the maze by now..

Finally he got to Cabin Three, the cabin of Poseidon. The low grey building was hewn from sea stone, with shells and coral fossils imprinted in the rock. Inside, it was as empty as it always was when he wasn’t at camp. There used to be two bunks, but after Tyson had moved out it was just painful to look at the other one so he moved it out. A Minotaur horn hung on the wall next to his pillow, and an old chain holding his old ring was hanging right next to it. He’d tried wearing it as another necklace for a little bit, but someone pointed out that it made him look like a widow and now he just couldn’t  _ not _ see it that way. 

He set Annabeth’s cap down on the nightstand. She could have it back when they saved her. 

Opening his wristwatch-shield, he was proud to see barely a mark on it. It’d been devastating when Thorn tore it to pieces before, but it and all of its engravings were still intact. He was admiring the scene of him, Annabeth and Tyson fighting the Hydra when a gurgling sound got his attention. 

At the back of the cabin was a big basin of grey sea rock, with a spout like the head of a fish carved in stone. Something he remembers having, but not his most recent years at camp. Out of its mouth burst a stream of water, a saltwater spring that trickled into the pool. The water was pretty hot, creating a mist in the cold winter air like a sauna for IM’s. (Iris-messages, not instant messaging.) It made the scent of saltwater in the air even more tangible and it stuck to his skin - though not in an annoying way like some people might find it. 

The surface of the water rippled, when he looked back at it. At the bottom of the pool, coins shimmered – a dozen or so golden drachma. A not-so-subtle reminder to keep in touch with family. He hadn’t contacted his mom since she drove away, but she was used to him disappearing for days or weeks at a time. And honestly, she wasn’t the first person he wanted to call right now. Opening the nearest window to let in light to make a rainbow, Percy fished a coin from the hot water. 

“Iris, O Goddess of the Rainbow, accept my offering, Show me Tyson at the forges of the Cyclopes.”

The mist shimmered, and the image of Percy’s half-brother appeared. He was surrounded by fire, which would’ve been a problem if he weren’t a Cyclops. He was bent over an anvil, hammering a red-hot sword blade. Sparks flew and flames swirled around his body. There was a marble-framed window behind him, and it looked out onto dark blue water – the bottom of the ocean. 

“Tyson!” he yelled. Evidently his brother didn’t hear him the first time because of the hammering and the roar of the flames. 

“TYSON!”

He turned, and his one enormous eye widened. His face broke into a crooked yellow grin. “Percy!” He dropped the sword blade and ran forward, trying to hug Percy. The vision blurred, and for a moment he was a little upset that Iris-Messages weren’t actual portals. 

“Tyson, it’s an Iris-message. I’m not really here.”

“Oh.” He came back into view, looking embarrassed. “Oh, I knew that. Yes.” 

“How are you? How’s the job?” 

Tyson’s eye lit up. “Love the job! Look!” He picked up the hot sword blade with his bare hands. “I made this!”

“That’s really cool.”

“I wrote my name on it. Right there.”

“Awesome. Hey, have you heard from dad much?” As much as he wanted to spend hours talking with his brother about their lives, a place like the forges could interrupt the message at any time, and he really needed some reminders. The fights, the deaths, he remembered vividly - it was always the small details that slipped through Percy’s fingers like sand.

Tyson’s smile faded. “Not much. Daddy is busy. He is worried about the war.”

“What do you mean?”  _ Which one?  _

Tyson sighed. He stuck the sword blade out the window, where it made a cloud of boiling bubbles. When Tyson brought it back in, the metal was cool. 

“Old sea spirits making trouble. Aigaios. Oceanus. Those guys.” 

Oh, his brother meant the immortals who ruled the oceans back in the days of the Titans. Before the Olympians took over. The fact that they were back now, with the Titan Lord Kronos and his allies gaining strength, was not good. He imagined they were probably pretty anxious to get their territory back - considering how much destruction the Oceans could bring.

“Is there anything I can do?” he asked. Not that he figures Poesiodn really needed help. 

Tyson shook his head sadly. “We are arming the mermaids. They need a thousand more swords by tomorrow.” He looked at his sword blade and sighed. “Old spirits are protecting the bad boat.”

“The  _ Princess Andromeda? _ ” 

“Yes. They make it hard to find. Protect it from Daddy’s storms. Otherwise he would smash it.”

“Smashing it would be good.”

Tyson perked up, as if he’d just had another thought. “Annabeth! Is she there?”

“Oh, sorry big guy, she’s not here right now.”

“Tell her hello!” He beamed. “Hello to Annabeth!’”

“Okay.” Percy’s pretty sure he’d never given someone he loved such a fake smile in his life. “I’ll do that.”

“And, Percy, don’t worry about the bad boat. It is going away.”

“Yeah?”

“Panama Canal! Very far away.” 

“All right,” he said. “Thanks for the info, Tyson.” 

In the forges, a deep voice bellowed something indecipherable. Tyson flinched. “Got to get back to work! Boss will get mad. Good luck, brother!”

“Okay, see y-”

Before he could finish, the vision shimmered and faded. He was alone again in Cabin Three. 

Dinner was a pretty miserable affair that night. Sure, the food was excellent as usual - you can’t go wrong with barbecue, pizza, and never-empty soda goblets. The torches and braziers kept the outdoor pavilion warm, but everyone had to sit at their own tables - camp rules. There was one exception last year, but he’s pretty sure that was just Mr D not noticing Annabeth and Grover blatantly breaking the rules, and no one else willing to be the one to get them in trouble. 

Even if it probably would’ve been better for him in the end, Percy didn’t really want to sit with anyone right now - even seeing Thalia sitting alone at Zeus’s table. The Hephaestus, Ares and Hermes cabins had a few people each. Nico sat with the Stoll brothers; the tricksters seemed to be trying to convince Nico that poker was a much better game than Mythomagic. Hopefully the Hermes kids wouldn’t corrupt the little di Angelo before he was claimed. 

The only table that really seemed to be having a good time was the Artemis table - the Hunters drank and ate and laughed like one big happy family. Zoë sat at the head of the table, with Artemis herself not currently present. She didn’t laugh as much as the others, but she did smile from time to time. Her silver lieutenant’s band glittered in the dark braids of her hair. Bianca di Angelo seemed to be having a great time. She was trying to learn how to arm wrestle from the big girl who’d picked a fight with the Ares kid on the basketball court. The bigger girl was beating her every time, but Bianca didn’t seem to mind.

When they’d finished eating, Chiron made the customary toast to the gods and formally welcomed the Hunters of Artemis. The clapping was pretty half-hearted. Then he announced the ‘goodwill’ capture-the-flag game for tomorrow night, which got a much better reception. Afterward, they all trailed back to their cabins for an early, winter lights out. 

Percy was exhausted, which meant he’d at least fall asleep easily tonight. (Read: within four hours of lying alone in the dark.) That was the nice part. The inevitable bad part was the awful nightmare he was greeted with that night. 

Annabeth was on a dark hillside, shrouded in fog. It almost felt like the Underworld, being unable to really see the sky above, ironic as that was. Annabeth struggled up the hill. Old broken Greek columns of black marble were scattered around, as though something had blasted a huge building to ruins. 

“Thorn!” she cried. “Where are you? Why did you bring me here?”

She scrambled over a section of broken wall and came to the crest of the hill. She gasped. There was Luke. And he was in pain. He was crumpled on the rocky ground, trying to rise. The blackness seemed to be thicker around him, fog swirling hungrily. His clothes were in tatters and his face was scratched and drenched with sweat. Unfortunately, that’s what holding up the sky does to people who aren’t ancient titans or a god.

“Annabeth!” he called. “Help me! Please!”

She ran forward. Percy tried to shout at her, call her an idiot, that Luke couldn't be trusted and that this was all a dirty trick, but he was voiceless in this nightmare.

Annabeth had tears in her eyes. She reached down like she wanted to touch Luke’s face, but at the last second she hesitated. 

“What happened?” she asked. 

“They left me here,” Luke groaned. “Please. It’s killing me.” 

“Why should I trust you?” Annabeth asked, which was probably the first smart thing she could do. The second would be to turn around and run away as far and fast as possible.

“You shouldn’t,” Luke said. “I’ve been terrible to you. But, if you don’t help me, I’ll die.”

Technically, that was something Percy didn’t want. If he genuinely thought there would be a place for Luke to fit into this world after all was said and done and he’d realized his mistakes, Percy would let him - if mostly to satisfy his own guilt and make Annabeth happy. But there was no other reliable way to stop Kronos, and that was a box he couldn’t afford to leave open, no matter the cost.

Then the darkness above Luke began to crumble, like a cavern roof in an earthquake. Huge chunks of black rock began falling. Annabeth rushed in just as a crack appeared, and the whole ceiling dropped. She held it somehow - tons of rock. She kept it from collapsing on her and Luke just with her own strength. It was impossible, and realistically there was no way she should be able to do it, but Percy knew she was much stronger than she looked.

Luke rolled free, gasping. “Thanks,” he managed. 

“Help me hold it,” Annabeth groaned. 

Luke caught his breath. His face was covered in grime and sweat. He rose unsteadily. “I knew I could count on you.” He began to walk away as the trembling blackness threatened to crush Annabeth. 

“HELP ME!” she pleaded. 

“Oh, don’t worry,” Luke said. “Your help is on the way. It’s all part of the plan. In the meantime, try not to die.” 

The sky began to crumble more, pushing Annabeth against the ground. 

Percy sat bolt upright in bed, clawing at the sheets. There was no sound in the cabin except the gurgle of the saltwater spring, and his own unsteady breaths. 

_ Gods. Damned. Luke Castellan.  _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	5. Capture the flag, as per usual

The next morning after breakfast, he told Grover about his dream. They sat in the meadow watching the satyrs chase the wood nymphs through the snow. The nymphs had promised to kiss the satyrs if they got caught, but they hardly ever did. Usually the nymph would let the satyr get up a full head of steam, then she’d turn into a snow-covered tree and the poor satyr would slam into it headfirsthorsetail and get a pile of snow dumped on him. 

When Percy described his nightmare, the satyr started twirling his finger in his shaggy leg fur. 

“A cave ceiling collapsed on her?” he asked. 

“Yeah. But it wasn’t a cave.”

“What do you mean?” 

“It felt like…” he really didn’t want to say  _ ‘Annabeth’s currently holding up the sky by herself’  _ because that’d cause more panic than they could afford right now. They needed to be smart about this to get her back safely. Unfortunate with the most level-headed member of their trio M.I.A. “I dunno. Something more powerful.”

Grover shook his head. “I don’t know what it could be. But after what Zoë dreamed-’ 

“Zoë had a dream? How do you know already?” 

“About three in the morning she came to the Big House and demanded to talk to Chiron. She looked really panicked.”

“...And how do you know this?”

Grover blushed. “I was sort of camped outside the Artemis cabin.”

“Why? Wasn’t it freezing being outside all night?”

“Just to be, you know, near them. And it wasn’t so bad.”

“You’re a stalker with hooves.”

“I am not! Anyway, I followed her to the Big House and hid in a bush and watched the whole thing. She got really upset when Argus wouldn’t let her in. It was kind of a dangerous scene.”

He could imagine. That was like an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object.

“So what did she say?”

Grover grimaced. “Well, she starts talking really old-fashioned when she gets upset, so it was kind of hard to understand. But something about Artemis being in trouble and needing the Hunters. And then she called Argus a boil-brained lout… I think that’s a bad thing. And then he called her-” 

“Slow down, Artemis. What’s up with her?” Please,  _ please  _ say the goddess hadn’t somehow already been tricked into taking on the sky in the past eight hours.

“I… well, finally Chiron came out in his pajamas and his horse tail in curlers and Zoë said she needed permission to leave camp immediately. Chiron refused. He reminded Zoë that the Hunters were supposed to stay here until they received orders from Artemis. And she said…” Grover gulped. “She said, ‘How are we to get orders from Artemis if Artemis is lost?”’ 

“Lost? Is someone trying to kill her?”

“No. I think she just meant… gone. Taken. Kidnapped.” 

Percy sighed, partly relieved and partly exhausted. “Then we can get her back.”

“Yeah,” Grover said, a shine of determination in her eyes. “But, you know, it’s weird – you having a nightmare the same night as Zow. It’s almost like-”

“They’re connected,” he said. 

Over in the frozen meadow, a satyr skidded on his hooves as he chased after a redheaded tree nymph. She giggled and held out her arms as he ran towards her.  _ Pop! _ She turned into a Scotch pine and he kissed the trunk at top speed. 

“Ah, love,” Grover said dreamily. 

Percy thought about all of this, pieces clicking into place steadily. “I’ve got to talk to Zoë.”

“Um, before you do…” Grover took something out of his coat pocket. It was a three-fold display like a travel brochure. “You remember what you said – about how it was weird the Hunters just happened to show up at Westover Hall? I think they might’ve been scouting us.”

“Scouting us?”

He passed the brochure. It was about the Hunters of Artemis. The front read, A WISE CHOICE FOR YOUR FUTURE! Inside were pictures of young maidens doing hunter stuff, chasing monsters, shooting bows. There were captions like: HEALTH BENEFITS: IMMORTALITY AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOU! And A BOY-FREE TOMORROW! 

“I found that in Annabeth’s backpack,” Grover said. 

Percy blinked, confused. Wait… these pictures felt familiar. He’d read this brochure before, he’s sure of it.

“Well, it seems to me… maybe Annabeth was thinking about joining.” 

He didn’t say anything about that. Really, what could he say? There was no way Annabeth would actually become a huntress, regardless of how many fliers and free t-shirts they gave her, it just wasn’t her dream in life. Sure, being immortal would give more time to become a great architect, but he’s pretty sure that if anyone understood the flaws of immortality, (at least in theory) it would be wise girl. 

Grover must’ve taken his silence as denial or something though, because he suddenly started spewing reassurances and platitudes that Percy had no intention of listening to. 

He tried to keep busy for the rest of the day. Really, there wasn’t much he could do yet, because foreknowledge or not he couldn’t save Annabeth and Artemis alone. He’d need help from his friends, and they wouldn’t all agree to go just yet.

Javelin-throwing class was fun enough, even when he accidentally threw too early, and tore a hole in one of the Ares kid’s pants when she was retrieving her javelins. He was promptly booted, and went for a walk by the pegasus stables. The animals seemed fine, but Silena Beauregard was having an argument with one of the Hunters, and it seemed best not to get involved. 

The chariot stands were empty, and he laid across the lower seats to watch Chiron instructing target practice. Percy felt sort of listless, knowing there was nothing he could do right now - nothing really productive, anyway. Keene had said it was okay to not always be in control of things, and that most people were uncomfortable with not feeling in control, but that didn’t help him get over those feelings. 

At the top of Half-Blood Hill, Mr D and Argus were feeding the baby dragon that guarded the Golden Fleece. Then it occurred to him that the Big House would be empty at the moment. There was always one spirit he could try to ask for guidance, even if she might not answer. The spirit of Delphi was just up in that attic, after all.

He jogged up to the building, figuring there was only so much time before someone came back. The trapdoor to the attic was familiar, as creepy as he always remembered. It wasn’t exactly a cheerful place to go. 

The room was dark and dusty and cluttered with junk; shields with monster bites out of them, swords bent in the shapes of daemon heads, and a bunch of taxidermy, like a stuffed harpy and a bright orange python. Over by the window, sitting on a three-legged stool, was the shrivelled-up mummy of an old lady in a tie-dyed hippie dress. The Oracle. He could feel her presence, but no telltale green smoke filled the room. Of course it wasn’t time for any prophecies, in fact, now he could remember that he’d done exactly this before and gotten zero answers as well. 

But maybe he’d hoped this would be different. That he would’ve changed things enough by now for some surprises to happen. Just for the hell of it, he said: 

“O Oracle, what is my fate?”

No answer. The sun slanted through the dirty attic window, making the dust motes dance in the air. He sighed, and turned to go - but bumped right into a big table full of souvenirs. 

Heroes stored all kinds of stuff in the attic: quest trophies they no longer wanted to keep in their cabins, or stuff that held painful memories. He knew Luke had stored a dragon claw somewhere up here - the one that had scarred his face. There was a broken sword hilt labeled: _ This broke and Leroy got killed. 1999.  _

Jeez, that sucks, Leroy. 

Then he noticed a pink silk scarf with a label attached to it. The tag read: SCARF OF THE GODDESS APHRODITE Recovered at Waterland, Denver, Co., by Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson. Huh. last he remembered, Annabeth had thrown it away because the love magic was too powerful, or something. Did she secretly bring it back, or was this a magic thing? Aphrodite had always been a nosy meddler. If this was some sort of hint that he should hurry up and save the girl he loves,  _ he’s working on that dammit.  _

Percy carefully folded the scarf and tucked it into his pocket.

That night after dinner, he was ready to play some capture the flag. Or as ready as he was going to be, even if it was going to be a very small game. Only thirteen Hunters, including Bianca di Angelo, and about the same number of campers. 

Zoë Nightshade looked pretty upset, and glancing resentfully at Chiron like she couldn’t believe he was making her do this. The other Hunters didn’t look too happy either. Unlike last night, they weren’t laughing or joking around, they just huddled together in the dining pavilion, whispering nervously to each other as they strapped on their armor. Some of them even looked like they’d been crying. Seems Zoë had told them about her nightmare. 

On the half-blood team, they had Beckendorf and two other Hephaestus guys, a few from the Ares cabin (sans Clarisse, unfortunately), the Stoll brothers and Nico from Hermes cabin, and a few Aphrodite kids. It was weird that the Aphrodite cabin even wanted to play, seeing as they usually sat on the sidelines, chatting and checking their reflections in the river. But when they heard it was a match against the Hunters, they were raring to go. 

“I’ll show them ‘love is worthless’,” Silena Beauregard grumbled as she strapped on her armor. I’ll pulverize them!’ 

That left him and Thalia. 

“I’ll take the offense,” Thalia volunteered. “You take defense.”

“Sure thing Cap,” he agreed easily. “I’ll keep the flag safe.” 

Thalia nodded with a determined look in her eye. She already had Aegis on her arm, and even their own teammates were giving her a wide berth, trying not to cower before the bronze head of Medusa. 

The daughter of Zeus turned to help some of the Aphrodite kids, who were having trouble suiting up their armor without breaking their nails. Nico di Angelo ran over with a big grin on his face. 

“Percy, this is awesome!” His blue-feathered bronze helmet was falling in his eyes, and his breastplate was about six sizes too big. Percy wondered why they never seemed to have smaller pieces of armor, considering how young some campers were.

Nico lifted his sword with effort. “Do we get to kill the other team?”

“Ah, no. Maiming and killing are against the rules.”

“But the Hunters are immortal, right?”

“That’s only if they don’t fall in battle. Anyway, like I said, it’s aga-”

“It would be awesome if we just, like, resurrected as soon as we were killed, so we could keep fighting, and-”

“Nico, this isn’t- okay, well it  _ is  _ a game, but not like any you’ve ever played before. I want you to have fun, but remember that you can get seriously hurt out there. Real weapons, real blood.”

Nico looked a bit disappointed, but Percy patted the kid’s shoulder and directed him on the general point of the game. There weren’t any specific pointers he could think of to give the kid, with his demigod powers not accessible yet and all. Though he did mention that him being smaller than his opponents could be just as much of an advantage as a weakness.

The kid looked like he wanted to ask more, but Chiron’s hoof thundered on the pavilion floor, interrupting all conversation. 

“Heroes!” he called. “You know the rules! The river is the boundary line. Blue team, Camp HalfBlood, shall take the west woods. Hunters of Artemis, red team, shall take the east woods. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. No intentional maiming, please! All magic items are allowed. To your positions!” 

“Sweet,” Nico whispered. “What kind of magic items? Do I get one?”

Percy thought about that for a moment. Obviously, he couldn’t give the kid riptide, but there was another magical item at his disposal - and it was probably the best thing in the word to make sure Nico wouldn’t get hurt too badly. 

Nodding to himself, Percy undid his wristwatch, and gestured for Nico to hold out his arm. The kid did with unbridled enthusiasm. 

“Okay, you see these on the side? Press this to activate the shield.”

The son of Pluto did, and shouted with glee when the four-foot round shield appeared on his arm. It was a little heavy for him, but it seemed like he was having a better time with it than the sword. He closed and opened the shield a few times, and looked ready to ask a million questions when Thalia shouted “Blue team! Follow me!” 

They cheered and followed. Without some ridiculous snow-board trying to pass as a shield encumbering him, it was easy enough to follow. He grinned, excited to play if nothing else. 

The blue team set their flag at the top of Zeus’s Fist - the cluster of boulders in the middle of the west woods that, if you look at it just the right way, looks like a huge fist sticking out of the ground. If you look at it from any other side, it looks like a pile of enormous deer droppings, but Chiron wouldn’t let the campers call the place the Poop Pile, especially after it had been named for Zeus, who has no sense of humor. 

It was a decent place to set the flag. The top boulder was six metres tall and really hard to climb, so the flag was clearly visible, like the rules said it had to be, and it didn’t matter that the guards weren’t allowed to stand within ten meters of it. 

He set Nico on guard duty with Beckendorf and the Stoll brothers, figuring he’d see at least some action without being in too much danger.

“We’ll send out a decoy to the left,” Thalia told the team. “Silena, you lead that.”

“Got it!”

“Take Laurel and Jason. They’re good runners. Make a wide arc around the Hunters, attract as many as you can. I’ll take the main raiding party round to the right and catch them by surprise.”

Everybody nodded. It sounded good, and Thalia said it with such confidence that it was impossible to think it wouldn’t work. 

“Anything to add, Percy?” She asked. 

“Nope, sounds great captain,” he said with a grin. She was a natural leader alright, she just needed a team to command. Frankly, Percy would’ve felt embarrassed trying to act in charge with her around.

“Oh, and don’t leave your post!” Thalia added. Eh, he might ignore that one, considering he was more of a rover this game.

They all broke into their smaller groups. The horn sounded, and the game began. 

Silena’s group disappeared into the woods on the left. Thalia’s group gave it a few seconds, then darted off towards the right. Percy climbed Zeus’s fist for a chance to survey the forest, waiting for anyone to come their way. The Hunters could be sneaky as hell when they wanted to be.

But nothing happened, as far as he could see. He caught a glimpse of Silena and her two scouts running through a clearing, followed by five of the Hunters, leading them deep into the woods and away from Thalia. The plan seemed to be working. Then he spotted another clump of Hunters heading to the right, bows ready. They must’ve spotted Thalia. 

“What’s happening?” Nico demanded, trying to climb up next to Percy. 

His mind raced with back-up strategies, and tried to determine Thalia’s chances of breaking through. They weren’t great, but if the Hunters got through he’d definitely be needed here to defend the flag. 

“I’m not entirely sure. But I think we should get ready for a fight, don’t let any Hunters slip through, got it?”

Nico nodded, a fire in his eyes. 

“Now go keep a lookout on the other side of the hill, and shout if there’s trouble.”

In the distance, there was some shouting about traps and fart-arrows. Percy was glad he wasn’t out there right now - stink bombs were unsportsmanlike, but not against the rules. Unless they were corrosive or too flammable, but there wasn’t a whole lot of regulation on that these days. 

Then Zoë and a small group of huntresses came running in, and there was no more time for thinking. Arrows came raining in, and he was suddenly very glad Nico had a shield. As it was, Percy only got nicked in a few places, but one of them might’ve got that kid in the eye of it didn’t bounce off of Tyson’s beautiful artwork. 

Someone got hold of their flag, but he was quick to tackle them - it was Bianca. Kicked the flag away, towards the Stoll brothers, (who thankfully took the hint and stood vigil over it) as he raised Riptide in a defensive stance. He wasn't here to kill anybody, after all. 

Distantly there was some cheering, and while Percy wasn’t certain, it sounded like Thalia’s group had the Hunters’s flag and was on their way back.

Bianca had a bow like all of the huntresses, but she was also carrying a large knife. It had a really sharp edge he didn’t want to meet the business end of, even if he wasn’t sure if it was for killing animals or skinning them. He very much liked having all of his skin, and unpunctured if possible. 

She came at him with the blade, seeming unnaturally graceful and strong for someone who could only have a few days of training maximum, and he briefly contemplated the benefits of joining a goddess's immortal inner circle. But he shook off the thoughts just as easily with the sound of metal shrieking against metal in his ears and the tingling sensation of meeting brutal force with his blade. Poor Anaklusmos would need a good sharpening and polishing after this for sure. 

The son of Poseidon almost didn’t notice when the sound of a horn blowing in the distance signaled the end of the game. He disengaged from his fight and spun in a quick circle to see if anyone had taken their flag. Sure enough, the Stoll brothers were not unconscious and Zoë was holding their flag, but she wasn’t even out of the clearing. She looked furious, and it was then that he noticed Thalia a few meters away, holding the Hunters’s flag proudly. 

Their team all whooped and shouted with joy, (at least the ones not unconscious or still out in the woods) and Chiron came trotting from the woods and up to Zeus’s face with a proud grin on his face. 

“Blue team wins!” He announced, as he checked out the Stoll brothers and other injured. The Hermes kids were lifted onto his back, and soon everyone had found their way into the clearing. 

Thalia ran over to him, still holding the flag up proudly. She smelled like rotten eggs and was definitely worse for wear, but none of that seemed to bother her. Percy held up a hand for a high-five, and the impact stung his hand - literally. Thalia was buzzing with more than joy, there were little sparks of electricity coming off her. 

“Oop!” She said, realizing that she’d just joy-buzzered him.

The half-bloods were all so caught up in the excitement of winning, (especially Chiron, who muttered something about breaking the streak,) that they didn’t notice something was approaching from the woods until it was already there. 

It was shrouded in a murky green mist, but as it got closer, the campers and Hunters gasped. 

“This is impossible,” Chiron said. He sounded more nervous than almost any other time Percy had seen him, which was worrying.

“It… she has never left the attic. Never.”

And yet the withered mummy that held the Oracle shuffled forward until she stood in the center of the group. Mist curled around their feet, turning the snow a sickly shade of green. Noone dared move. 

Then her voice hissed like it was inside his head, but Percy knew everyone could hear it, because several clutched their hands over the ears. 

_ I am the spirit of Delphi, the voice said. Speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. _

The Oracle regarded him with its cold, dead eyes. Then she turned unmistakably towards Zoë Nightshade. 

_ Approach, Seeker, and ask.  _

Zoë swallowed. “What must I do to help my goddess?” 

The Oracle’s mouth opened, and green mist poured out. There, they all saw the vague image of a mountain, and a girl standing at the barren peak. It was Artemis, but she was wrapped in chains, fettered to the rocks. She was kneeling, her hands raised as if to fend off an attacker, and it looked like she was in pain. She was holding up the sky, and a sinking dread coiled in his insides. Annabeth wouldn’t die, fortunately, but he wouldn’t wish anyone to be in that spot, ever.

The Oracle spoke:

_ Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,  _

_ Something great is lost in the land without rain,  _

_ The bane of Olympus shows the trail,  _

_ Campers and Hunters combined prevail,  _

_ The Titan’s curse must one withstand,  _

_ And one shall perish by a parent’s hand.  _

Then, as they watched, the Mist swirled and retreated like a great green serpent into the mummy’s mouth. The Oracle sat down on a rock and became as still as she’d been in the attic, as if she might sit by the creek for a hundred years.

Percy let go of a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, and made the conscious effort to unclench his jaw.  _ ‘Something great,’  _ not  _ ‘someone’ _ , he could work with that. 

He’d made a promise, to himself and to Nico. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	6. Best laid plans

It would’ve been nice if the Oracle could walk herself back up to the attic, but no. Grover and Percy got to carry her back - mostly because they were two of the least injured people around. 

“Watch her head!” Grover warned as they went up the stairs, but it was too late. Her mummified face smacked into the trapdoor frame and dust flew. They had to stop and set her down to check for damage, but there really was no way to tell. So they just hauled her up and set her on her tripod stool, both huffing and sweating. Seriously, wasn’t a full-grown skeleton only supposed to weigh like, twenty pounds?

“Well,” Grover said, “that was gross.” 

It was easier to keep their spirits light by ignoring the situation, and focusing on their victory over the hunters instead. Though it did irk him a bit that the Oracle said nothing to him earlier, but walked half a mile to talk to Zoë. Talk about favoritism. 

“What do you think will Chiron do?” Percy asked. 

“I wish I knew.” He looked wistfully out of the second-floor window at the rolling hills covered in snow. “I want to be out there.”

“Searching again, you mean?” 

He clopped his hooves uneasily. “Yeah, I’ve just been thinking about something the manticore said, about the Great Stirring. I can’t help but wonder… if all those ancient powers are waking up, maybe… maybe not all of them are evil.” 

Percy thought about that for a moment -feeling a bit guilty that he’d almost completely forgotten about the satyrs’ two-thousand year search. This year, with Chiron putting all the satyrs on emergency duty to find half-bloods, Grover hadn’t been able to continue his search. It must’ve been driving him nuts. 

“I’ve let the trail go cold,” he said. “I feel restless, like I’m missing something really important. He’s out there somewhere. I can just feel it.”

He didn’t have time to formulate a response, before Thalia came up the stairs. She seemed a bit anxious - or maybe restless was a better word. 

“Hey Percy, come on downstairs. Dionysus is calling a council of cabin leaders to discuss the prophecy.” 

“Oh, okay. Yeah, let’s go.” 

It was definitely nice not fighting with the daughter of Zeus so much. Percy couldn’t exactly remember what had first instigated their little rivalry, but he didn’t care much, either. They were friends now, and he was glad to have someone else on his side with Annabeth so far away. 

The council was held around a ping-pong table in the rec room. Dionysus waved his hand and supplied snacks: Cheez Whiz, crackers and several bottles of red wine. Then Chiron reminded him that wine was against his restrictions and most of those in the room were underage. Mr D sighed. With a snap of his fingers the wine turned to Diet Coke. Nobody drank that either. 

Mr D and Chiron (in wheelchair form) sat at one end of the table. Zoë and Bianca di Angelo (who had kind of become Zoë’s personal assistant) took the other end. He, Thalia and Grover sat along the right, and the other head councilors Beckendorf, Silena Beauregard, and the Stoll brothers, sat on the left. The Ares kids were supposed to send a representative, too, but all of them had got broken limbs (accidentally) during capture the flag, courtesy of the Hunters. They were resting up in the infirmary. 

Zoë started the meeting off on a positive note. “This is pointless.”

“Cheez Whiz!” Grover gasped. He began scooping up crackers and ping-pong balls and spraying them with topping. 

“There is no time for talk,” Zoë continued. “Our goddess needs us. The Hunters must leave immediately.”

“And go where?” Chiron asked. 

“West!” Bianca said. 

She looked so different after just a few days with the Hunters. Her dark hair was braided like Zoë’s now, so you could actually see her face - the familiar dark eyes and freckled skin were both a comforting and upsetting sight. She looked exactly like he remembered. Extra muscle and a sort of ethereal glow that came with being a huntress were present, too. 

“You heard the prophecy. ‘Five shall go west to the goddess in chains.’ We can get five hunters and go.”

“Yes,” Zoë agreed. “Artemis is being held hostage! We must find her and free her.”

“You’re missing something, as usual,” Thalia said. “Campers and Hunters  _ combined _ prevail. We’re supposed to do this together.”

“No!” Zoë said. “The Hunters do not need thy help.”

“Your,” Thalia grumbled. “Nobody has said  _ thy _ in like three hundred years, Zoë. Get with the times.” 

Zoë hesitated, like she was trying to form the word correctly. “Yerrr. We do not need yerrr help.”

Thalia rolled her eyes. “Forget it.”

“I fear the prophecy says you do need our help,” Chiron said. “Campers and Hunters must cooperate.”

“Or do they?” Mr D mused, swirling his Diet Coke under his nose like it had a fine bouquet. “ ‘Something great is lost in the land without rain. What if things go nasty because you work together?”

“Mr D,” Chiron sighed, “with all due respect, whose side are you on?” 

Dionysus raised his eyebrows. “Sorry, my dear centaur. Just trying to be helpful.”

“We’re supposed to work together,” Thalia said stubbornly. “I don’t like it either, Zoë, but you know prophecies. You want to fight against one?”

Zoë grimaced, but clearly Thalia had scored a point.

“We must not delay,” Chiron warned. “Today is Sunday. This very Friday, December twenty-first, is the winter solstice.”

“Oh, joy,” Dionysus muttered. “Another dull annual meeting.”

“Artemis must be present at the solstice,” Zoë said. “She has been one of the most vocal on the council arguing for action against Kronos’s minions. If she is absent, the gods will decide nothing. We will lose another year of war preparations.” 

“Are you suggesting that the gods have trouble acting together, young lady?” Dionysus asked. 

“Yes, Lord Dionysus.”

Mr D nodded. “Just checking. You’re right, of course. Carry on.”

“I must agree with Zoë,” said Chiron. “Artemis’s presence at the winter council is critical. We have only a week to find her. And possibly even more important: to locate the monster she was hunting. Now, we must decide who goes on this quest.”

“Three and two,” Percy said. Everybody looked at him. “We’re supposed to have five,” he continued. “Three Hunters, two from Camp Half-Blood. That’s more than fair.” Of course, he knew it’d end up being the opposite more likely, but it was the more fair idea to suggest first.

Thalia and Zoë exchanged looks. 

“Well,” Thalia said. “It does make sense.”

Zoë grunted. “I would prefer to take all the Hunters. We will need strength of numbers.”

“You’ll be retracing the goddess’s path,” Chiron reminded her. “Moving quickly. No doubt Artemis tracked the scent of this rare monster, whatever it is, as she moved west. You will have to do the same. The prophecy was clear: The bane of Olympus shows the trail. What would your mistress say? ‘Too many Hunters spoil the scent.’ A small group is best.”

Zoë picked up a ping-pong paddle and studied it like she was deciding who she wanted to whack first. “This monster – the bane of Olympus. I have hunted at Lady Artemis’s side for many years, yet I have no idea what this beast might be.”

Everybody looked at Dionysus, he  _ was  _ the only god present and gods are supposed to know things. He was flipping through a wine magazine, but when everyone got silent he glanced up. “Well, don’t look at me. I’m a young god, remember? I don’t keep track of all those ancient monsters and dusty Titans. They make for terrible party conversation.”

“Chiron,” Percy said, eyeing the centaur out of the corner of his eye. “You have any ideas about this monster?”

Chiron pursed his lips. “I have several ideas, none of them good. And none of them quite make sense. Typhon, for instance, could fit this description. He was truly a bane of Olympus. Or the sea monster Ketos. But if either of these were stirring, we would know it. They are ocean monsters the size of skyscrapers. Your father Poseidon would already have sounded the alarm. I fear this monster may be more elusive. Perhaps even more powerful.”

“That’s some serious danger you’re facing,” Connor Stoll said. (Note how he said “you” and not “we”...) “It sounds like at least two of the five are going to die.” 

“Something great is lost in the land without rain,” Beckendorf said. “If I were you, I’d stay out of the desert.” There was a muttering of agreement. 

“And the Titan’s curse must one withstand,” Silena said. “What could that mean?” 

Chiron and Zoë exchanged a nervous look, but whatever they were thinking, they didn’t share it. 

“One shall perish by a parent’s hand,” Grover said in between bites of Cheez Whiz and ping-pong balls. “How is that possible? Whose parent would kill them?”

“G-man, c’mon. I know you’ve met  _ at least  _ three gods in your life.”

There was a heavy silence round the table.

Thalia shared a look with Percy. Years ago, Chiron had heard a prophecy about the next child of the Big Three to reach sixteen. Even though he already knew that it was about him, he could imagine Thalia being anxious right about now. Her sixteenth birthday was next week. 

“There will be deaths,” Chiron decided. “That much we can guess.”

“Oh, goody!” Dionysus said. Everyone looked at him. He glanced up innocently from the pages of Wine Connoisseur magazine. “Ah, Pinot Noir is making a comeback. Don’t mind me.”

“Percy is right,” Silena Beauregard said. “Two campers should go.”

“Oh, I see,” Zoë said sarcastically. “And I suppose you wish to volunteer?”

Silena blushed. “I’m not going anywhere with the Hunters. Don’t look at me!”

“A daughter of Aphrodite does not wish to be looked at,” Zoë scoffed. “What would thy mother say?”

Silena started to get out of her chair, but the Stoll brothers pulled her back. 

“Stop it,” Beckendorf said. He was a big guy with a bigger voice. He didn’t talk much, but when he did people tended to listen. “Let’s start with the Hunters. Which three of you will go?”

Zoë stood. “I shall go, of course, and I will take Phoebe. She is our best tracker.”

“The big girl who likes to hit people on the head?” Travis Stoll asked cautiously. Zoë nodded. 

“The one who put the arrows in my helmet?” Connor added. 

“Yes,” Zoë snapped. “Why?”

“Oh, nothing,” Travis said.”‘Just we have a T-shirt for her from the camp store.” He held up a big silver T-shirt that said ARTEMIS THE MOON GODDESS, HUNTING TOUR 2002, with a huge list of national parks and stuff underneath. “It’s a collector’s item. She was admiring it. You want to give it to her?”

Percy knew the Stolls were up to something, and that whatever it was had made Phoebe unavailable for the quest last time around, freeing a space for him. Small graces. 

She just sighed and took the T-shirt. “As I was saying, I will take Phoebe. And I wish Bianca to go.”

Bianca looked stunned. “Me? But… I’m so new. I wouldn’t be any good.” 

“You will do fine,” Zoë insisted. “There is no better way to prove thyself.” 

Bianca closed her mouth. Part of him also wanted to insist she not come, to keep her safe, but that wasn’t his place. All he’d do is piss off Zoë and make Bianca less confident in herself.

“And for campers?” Chiron asked. His eyes met Percy’s, but it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. 

“Me!” Grover stood up so fast he bumped the ping-pong table. He brushed cracker crumbs and ping-pong ball scraps off his lap. “Anything to help Artemis!” 

Zoë wrinkled her nose. “I think not, satyr. You are not even a half-blood.”

“But he _ is _ a camper,” Thalia said. “And he’s got a satyr’s senses and woodland magic. Can you play a tracker’s song yet, Grover?”

“Absolutely!”

Zoë wavered. Percy hoped she didn’t bank too much on using that power reliably. 

“Very well,’ Zoë said. “And the second camper?”

“I’ll go.” Thalia stood and looked around, daring anyone to question her. 

He knew Chiron was still staring at him, but couldn’t for the life of him think why. In fact, quite a few people (mainly the other campers) were looking at him. 

“What? What is it?” he asked. 

Grover looked at him, and seemed to realize something. “Oh,” he said. “Whoa, yeah, I forgot! Percy has to go. I didn’t mean… I’ll stay. Percy should go in my place.”

“He cannot,” Zoë said. “He is a boy. I won’t have Hunters travelling with a boy.”

“Well, first of all, Grover is a boy. Second, guys, it’s fine, there’s no room for me. I get it.” It felt a little weird to think in retrospect, but he had been a part of pretty much every major quest at camp from when he was twelve until he left. And sure, if he hadn’t already decided that he was going, even if he had to make his own way alone, he might’ve argued; but he was different than he’d been as a kid. Technically, (in some vague senses) he was roughly thirty years old now. 

Mr D looked bored, still reading his magazine. Silena, the Stoll brothers and Beckendorf were staring at the table. Bianca gave him a look of pity. It seemed no one really believed he was okay with this. All the attention caused him to search for the leather cords around his neck, tugging on them a bit to ease the sense of tension he was feeling. 

“There,” Zoë said flatly. “He forfeits a place on this quest himself.”

Chiron sighed. “It seems we have reached a consensus.” 

Percy sat in silence with the rest as Chiron concluded the council. “Thalia and Grover will accompany Zoë, Bianca and Phoebe. You shall leave at first light. And may the gods-” he glanced at Dionysus - “present company included, we hope - be with you.”

Dinner was a quiet affair that night, as it had been the past few nights, (that is, quiet except for the Artemis table) but afterwards Grover came looking for him.

“Percy, I’m so sorry!” Grover said, the two of them walking back towards Cabin Three. Percy didn’t feel like having this sort of conversation out in the open. “I didn’t know they’d - that you’d - Honest!” He started to sniffle, and Percy wondered why it was so hard for everyone to believe he was fine with how things had gone at the meeting.

“It’s alright, man, seriously. I’m not upset.”

Grover’s lower lip trembled. “I wasn’t even thinking… I was so focused on helping Artemis. But, I promise, I’ll look everywhere for Annabeth. If I can find her, I will.”

“Alright, just remember that if you don’t come back with her I’m gonna have to sun you,” he said, deadpan.

For a moment Grover looked panicked, before realizing Percy was joking. They shared a quick laugh.

As they made it to his cabin, Chiron came up to them just as Percy was opening the doors. 

“Grover,” Chiron said, “perhaps you’d let me have a word with Percy?”

“Go ahead,” the satyr nodded. 

Chiron waited. 

“Oh, you mean alone. Sure, Chiron,” he trotted away, and Percy invited the centaur in. 

He sat on his own bunk, and Chiron knelt on his horse legs. “Percy, I don’t pretend to understand prophecies.”

“Yeah, but maybe that’s because they never make sense.”

Chiron gazed at the saltwater spring gurgling in the corner of the room. “Thalia would not have been my first choice to go on this quest. She’s too impetuous. She acts without thinking. She is too sure of herself.”

“You know I’ve heard that her and I are a lot alike.”

The centaur tilted his head curiously. “I wonder who told you that. Frankly, while you do act with your heart, I would say you put a bit more consideration into your actions. You are much more mild-tempered, in comparison - I’m sure many in your position tonight would have made quite the fuss.” 

“Never got me anywhere,” Percy shrugged. “Learned a long time ago that complaining generally gets you nothing at best, and dead at worst.”

Chiron gave him an odd look, something shining in his eyes - all wisdom and an ancientness that was difficult to comprehend. 

“Perhaps it is for the best,” he mused. “You can go home to your mother for the holidays. If we need you, we can call.” 

“Yeah. I’m sure I’ll figure something out.” 

Percy pulled Riptide from his pocket, uncapping and re-capping it to writing mode idly. Not that he had anything to write, really, but sometimes it was just fun to draw on his arms with the golden ink. He started what he thought was a pretty good flower, but probably looked more like a cabbage. 

When he saw the pen, Chiron grimaced. “It’s no wonder Zoë doesn’t want you along, I suppose. Not while you’re carrying that particular weapon.”

The half-blood hummed, but knew the chances were slim that Chiron would actually delve into the tale of Anaklusmos right now. Indeed, he simply pulled a golden drachma from his saddlebag and tossed it over. 

“Call your mother, Percy. Let her know you’re coming home in the morning. And, ah, for what it’s worth… I almost volunteered for this quest myself. I would have gone, if not for the last line.”

“One shall perish by a parent’s hand. Yeah.”

After a moment of silence, the centaur stood and started to leave.

“Chiron,” he called after the activities director. “You know what this Titan’s curse is, don’t you? You know why Annabeth and Artemis are in so much trouble?”

His face darkened. He made a claw over his heart and pushed outwards – an ancient gesture for warding off evil. “Let us hope the prophecy does not mean what I think. Now, goodnight, Percy. And your time will come. I’m convinced of that. There’s no need to rush.”

Percy never liked the way Chiron always said ‘your time.” It sounded more like he was saying ‘your death.’

It took a little while for him to work up to calling his mother. Not that he didn’t want to, it just felt like a higher priority to finish the flower and it’s stem on his arm first. Finally, he made his way over to the fountain, using the light from the bathroom to make a faint rainbow.

“O goddess, accept my offering.” The mist shimmered. “Show me Sally Jackson, Upper East Side, Manhattan.”

And there in the mist was a scene he didn’t exactly  _ expect,  _ but not one that surprised him. His mom was sitting at their kitchen table with Paul Blofis. They were laughing hysterically. There was a big stack of textbooks between them. 

Paul thirty-something, with longish salt-and-pepper hair and a brown jacket over a black T-shirt. He looked like an actor - like a guy who might play an undercover cop on television. Percy felt weird, imagining himself as old as the guy his mom was currently (or about to start) dating.

“Sally, you’re a riot. You want some more wine?” Blofis said, when their laughter had settled down a bit. 

“Ah, I shouldn’t. You go ahead if you want.”

“Actually, I’d better use your bathroom. May I?” Okay, if the guy was still asking permission to use the bathroom, they probably weren’t too serious just yet.

“Down the hall,” she said, trying not to laugh. 

Once Paul was out of the way, he called “Mom!”

She jumped so hard she almost knocked her textbooks off the table. Finally Sally focused on him. “Percy! Oh, honey! Is everything okay?”

“I think I should be asking  _ you  _ that,” Percy said, totally not grinning. 

She blinked. “I’m just doing homework.” Then she seemed to understand the look on his face. “Oh, honey, that’s just Paul – um, Mr Blofis. He’s in my writing seminar.”

“Seems like he’s also at the apartment, drinking wine and having fun.”

“Percy, please, we can talk about this at another time. What’s wrong?”

Ah, she always knew when something was up. Special mom-powers, or something. He told her about Annabeth, and the prophecy. He didn’t exactly  _ say _ he hadn’t been invited to the quest, but she seemed to read between the lines. 

“Oh, Percy…”

“Yeah. Seems like there’s nothing I can do right now, might be coming home tomorrow for the holidays.”

She turned her pencil round in her fingers. 

“Percy, as much as I want you to come home-” she sighed like she was mad at herself - “as much as I want you to be safe, I want you to understand something. You need to do whatever you think you have to.”

“...Are you telling me to go on the super-important, potentially world-ending quest that I was specifically left out of?” 

Sally pursed her lips. “I’m telling you that… you’re getting too old for me to tell you what to do. I’m telling you that I’ll support you, even if what you decide to do is dangerous. I can’t believe I’m saying this.”

Percy smiled. He was glad to have her support at times like this. 

“Mom-” he started, but then the toilet flushed down the hall in the apartment. 

“I don’t have much time,” his mom said. “Percy, whatever you decide, I love you. And I know you’ll do what’s best for Annabeth.”

“Thanks. I really - I’m glad you know how important this is.”

And with that, she waved her hand over the mist, and the connection dissolved, leaving Percy with one final image of Blofis smiling down at her.

He doesn’t remember falling asleep, but he does remember the dream. And for once, it was one he knew was coming. He was back in that barren cave, the ceiling heavy and low above. Annabeth was kneeling under the weight of the sky. She was too tired even to cry out, arms and legs trembling with the weight. A grey streak had formed in her hair, and a whole world of old jokes came back to him, from another life. 

“How is our mortal guest?”a male voice boomed. It wasn’t Kronos. Kronos’s voice was raspy and metallic, like a knife scraped across stone. This was deeper and lower, like a bass guitar. Atlas.

Luke emerged from the shadows. He ran to Annabeth, knelt beside her, then looked back at the unseen man. “She’s fading. We must hurry.”

The deep voice chuckled. Atlas wasn’t currently visible, but a single, large hand thrust someone forward into the light - Artemis - her hands and feet bound in celestial bronze chains. 

Her silvery dress was torn and tattered. Her face and arms were cut in several places, and she was bleeding ichor, the golden blood of the gods. “You heard the boy,” said the Titan. “Decide!” 

Artemis’s eyes flashed with anger. It must be incredibly difficult for such a powerful being to be left helpless in any situation, let alone such a dire one. The goddess looked at Annabeth, and her expression changed to concern and outrage. 

“How dare you torture a maiden like this!”

“She will die soon,” Luke said. “You can save her.”

Annabeth made a weak sound of protest. A heavy pit formed in his gut, and Percy was caught between wanting to scream and wanting to kill something 0 anything that got in his way to Annabeth. 

“Free my hands,” Artemis said. Luke brought out his sword, Backbiter. With one heavy strike, he broke the goddess’s handcuffs. Artemis ran to Annabeth and took the burden from her shoulders. Annabeth collapsed on the ground and lay there shivering. Artemis staggered, trying to support the weight of the sky.

Atlas chuckled from the shadows. “You are as predictable as you were easy to beat, Artemis.”

“You surprised me,” the goddess said, straining under her burden. “It will not happen again.”

“Indeed it will not,” the titan said. “Now you are out of the way for good! I knew you could not resist helping a young maiden. That is, after all, your specialty, my dear.”

Artemis groaned. “You know nothing of mercy, you swine.”

“On that,” he said, “we can agree. Luke, you may kill the girl now.”

“No!” Artemis shouted. 

Luke hesitated. “She – she may yet be useful, sir. Further bait.”

“Bah! You truly believe that?”

“Yes, General. They will come for her. I’m sure.”

Atlas considered. “Then the dracaenae can guard her here. Assuming she does not die from her injuries, you may keep her alive until winter solstice. After that, if our sacrifice goes as planned, her life will be meaningless. The lives of all mortals will be meaningless.”

Luke gathered up Annabeth’s listless body and carried her away from the goddess. 

“You will never find the monster you seek,” Artemis said. “Your plan will fail.”

“How little you know, my young goddess,” the Titan in the shadows said. “Even now, your darling attendants begin their quest to find you. They shall play directly into my hands. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have a long journey to make. We must greet your Hunters and make sure their quest is… challenging.”

The echoing laughter shook the ground until it seemed the whole cavern ceiling would collapse. 

Percy woke with a start. That seemed to be a trend lately… but he was sure he’d heard a loud banging. Looking around the cabin, he saw it was still dark outside. The salt spring still gurgled. No other sounds but the hoot of an owl in the woods and the distant surf on the beach. In the moonlight, on his nightstand, was Annabeth’s New York Yankees cap. He contemplated it for a moment, then: BANG. BANG. 

Something was pounding on the door. He didn’t feel particularly threatened, considering the camp’s protective barrier was currently in place, but he hadn’t lived this long without being careful. (Haha, yeah, he knows. Don’t point it out.) Riptide came with him, blade drawn and glowing faintly. Briefly, Percy realized that his arm was also glowing with the ink from earlier. 

_ Whoa, boss! _ A voice spoke in his mind as it clopped away from the sword blade. _ I don’t wanna be a horse-kebob anyway _ wings spread in alarm, and the wind buffeted him back a step. 

“Blackjack,” He said, relieved but also confused. Little pieces of a puzzle were clicking together in his mind, but he  _ had  _ just woken up. “It’s the middle of the night, what are you doing here?”

Blackjack huffed.  _ Ain’t either, boss. It’s five in the morning. What you still sleeping for? _

“Please stop calling me boss.” It was only marginally better than ‘lord.’ He wasn’t anyone's boss  _ or _ lord.

_ Whatever you say, boss. You’re the man. You’re my number one. _

Percy rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and tried not to project his thoughts to the pegasus too loudly. That’s the problem with being Poseidon’s son, honestly. Being able to communicate with horses and sea-life was nice, but they could also understand his own thoughts. Really, there was no reason for the pegasus to be so attached to him; the freeing of the creatures kept on the _ Princess Andromeda _ had been more of the centaur’s doing, either by accident or for a distraction.

“Blackjack, you’re supposed to stay in the stables.” 

_ Meh, the stables. You see Chiron staying in the stables?  _

“I guess not.” 

_ Exactly. Listen, we got another little sea friend needs your help.  _

“Again?” 

_ Yeah. I told the hippocampi I’d come get you.  _

He groaned. If this was what he thought it was, then he was more than happy to help Bessie get out of danger, but it was still way too early for this. Fishing nets, those soda can connector thingies, any time even a shrimp got caught in something, Blackjack or the hippocampi would come running to Percy for help. He liked to be helpful, and was glad to save some marine lives every now and then, but he got so little sleep as it was….

“All right,” he said. “Let me get my shoes on.”

_ You’re the best, boss.  _

“And don’t call me boss!”

Blackjack whinnied softly. It might’ve been a laugh.

Percy took one last glance at his bed - comfortable, and probably still warm. As he was getting dressed, he grabbed Annabeth’s cap and Aphrodite’s scarf from his nightstand, tucking them into his coat. Nico still had his shield, and there really wasn’t anything else he wanted to take, considering this would probably be the last time he saw his cabin for a good while. 

  
  
  
  
  



	7. Take flight

Blackjack gave him a ride down the beach, and it was a pretty refreshing way to wake up, all things considered. Watching the still ink-black sky pass above, cool air messing up his hair even further at a hundred miles an hour. 

_ Here. _ Blackjack slowed and turned in a circle.  _ Straight down.  _

“Thanks.” 

Percy tumbled off the pegasus’s back, falling through the sky and into the water below from who-knows how high up. It was kinda like skydiving, or at least what he imagined it’d be like; he’d never done it professionally, since planes were a big no-no for him. As he shot down into the darkness, he became distinctly aware of how far he was going. Eight, twelve, fifteen meters. Through some trial and error he’d discovered that there wasn’t any specific limit to how far down he could dive, but after a thousand feet or so it was a lot harder to see. Like walking through the woods with a large lamp - enough to get by, but not preferable. (And there were some scary-looking fish at the bottom of the ocean, with even  _ less  _ welcoming thoughts. Like, _ eat-kill-rip-eat-eatyou?-eatyou-shredwithmyteeth-poisonfood  _ thoughts.)

As he got closer to the bottom, he relied less on his eyes and more on feeling the cool of the water and the warmth of the creatures around him. There were three hippocampi, all circling a sunken boat. Something was upsetting them. 

Percy got closer and saw the problem. A dark shape - which he almost instantly recognized as Bessie the  Ophiotaurus -  was wedged halfway under the boat and tangled in a fishing net, one of those big nets they use on trawlers to catch everything at once. He hated those things. It was bad enough they drowned porpoises and dolphins, but they also occasionally caught mythological animals. When the nets got tangled, some lazy fishermen would just cut them loose and let the trapped animals die. Maybe he’d never exactly been an animal rights activist, but this was just cruel. 

Apparently the  Ophiotaurus  had been mucking around on the bottom of Long Island Sound and had somehow got itself tangled in the net of this sunken fishing boat. It had tried to get out and managed to get even more hopelessly stuck, shifting the boat in the process. Now the wreckage of the hull, which was resting against a big rock, was teetering and threatening to collapse on top of the tangled animal. The hippocampi were swimming around frantically, wanting to help but not sure how. 

One was trying to chew the net, but hippocampi teeth just aren’t meant for cutting rope. Hippocampi are really strong, but they don’t have hands, and aren’t exactly the most intelligent creatures. Somewhere between a normal horse and a marlin. 

_ Free it, lord! _ A hippocampus said when it noticed him. The others joined in, asking the same thing. 

He swam closer, to get a good look at where the net was caught.

“Mooooooo!” the  Ophiotaurus called.

It was, quite literally, a cow with the back-end of a serpent. The front half was a calf - a baby, with black fur and big, sad brown eyes and a white muzzle - and its back half was a black-and-brown snaky tail with fins running down the top and bottom, like an enormous eel. 

“Whoa, little one,” he spoke. “It’s alright, I can’t hear you but I know you’re really upset and scared, right? I’m here to help, so it’s all going to be alright now.” 

Bessie looked at him sadly, “Mooo!” 

Unfortunately he only spoke horse and fish. Unfortunately Bessie wasn’t close enough to either for him to ‘hear’ the little guy’s thoughts. (Yeah yeah, a boy named Bessie, it’s not like Percy  _ knew the  _ Ophiotaurus was male when he named it. Besides, animals don’t care about gender so much.)

_ We don’t know what it is, lord, _ one hippocampus said.  _ Many strange things are stirring. _

“ ‘S alright,” he murmured. “I know this fella.” 

He thought for a moment, considering how to set Bessie free. As a monster, technically, the creature would freak out at the sight of celestial bronze, so Anaklusmos probably wasn’t a good idea. But maybe… 

Percy would never be happy about all the garbage humans dump into the ocean, but very occasionally it could be helpful. After only a few minutes of searching, he found what looked like the remains of a champagne bottle. There wasn’t really any  _ safe  _ way to hold it, so he just gritted his teeth and ignored the redness of the water around his hand. 

First thing’s first though, they needed to lift the boat. He introduced the three hippocampi to gently lift the boat just enough for him to get Bessie out, and guided them all a safe distance away in case the whole thing collapsed anyways. Percy made short work of the net, sawing through it with the piece of glass, and only flinching twice when it dug into his fingers. 

Finally, the net came off completely and the cow serpent zipped through the water and did a happy somersault. The hippocampi whinnied with joy.  _ Thank you, lord!  _

“Moooo!” The  Ophiotaurus  nuzzled him, looking entirely too adorable with those big brown eyes. 

“Yeah yeah, okay Bessie. You’re welcome, now stay out of trouble, will you?”

With all that finished, it was time to return to his cabin before Argus or the harpies discovered him breaking curfew. He shot to the surface of the water, and immediately Blackjack zoomed down and let Percy catch hold of his neck.

_ Success, boss?  _

“Yup, rescued a baby sea-cow. Cut up my hand a bit-” he remembered a little late to keep that hand pressed into his jeans, instead of Blackjack’s coat. “Ah, sorry.”

_ Good deeds are always dangerous, boss. You saved me remember? _

As Blackjack flew back towards Cabin Three, he gazed at the dining pavilion. There he saw a small figure - a boy hunkered down behind a Greek column, like he was hiding from someone. It was Nico, and the little brat was snooping. Not that Percy could blame him - coming into camp and immediately hearing about a big quest that your sibling was going on but you couldn’t come? Anyone would try and find out as much as they could. 

“Blackjack, set me down over there, will you? Behind that column.”

If it wouldn’t have blown his  _ and _ Nico’s cover, Percy would’ve been seriously tempted to get really close and shout ‘what are you doing?’ as loud as he could. As it was, he pulled on Annabeth’s cap and was really thankful his hand had stopped bleeding a few minutes ago. 

He creeped around the column Nico was hiding behind to listen more closely to the two speaking - Zoë and Bianca. They were arguing, and he had a feeling he already knew what about. 

“It cannot be cured,” Zoë was saying. “Not quickly, at any rate.”

“But how did it happen?” Bianca asked. 

“A foolish prank,” Zoë growled. “Those Stoll boys from the Hermes cabin. Centaur blood is like acid. Everyone knows that. They sprayed the inside of that Artemis Hunting Tour T-shirt with it.”

“That’s terrible!”

“She will live,” Zoë said. “But she’ll be bedridden for weeks with horrible hives. There is no way she can go. It’s up to me… and thee.”

“But the prophecy,” Bianca said. “If Phoebe can’t go, we only have four. We’ll have to pick another.”

“There is no time,” Zoë said. “We must leave at first light. That’s immediately. Besides, the prophecy said we would lose something great, Phoebe would have been a great asset to us.”

“In the land without rain,” Bianca said, “but that can’t be here.”

“It might be,” Zoë said, though she didn’t sound convinced. “The camp has magic borders. Nothing, not even weather, is allowed in without permission. It could be a land without rain.”

“But-” 

“Bianca, hear me.” Zoë’s voice was strained. “I… I can’t explain, but I have a sense that we should not pick someone else. It would be too dangerous. They would meet an end worse than Phoebe’s. I don’t want Chiron choosing a camper as our fifth companion. And… I don’t want to risk another Hunter.”

Bianca was silent. “You should tell Thalia the rest of your dream.”

“No. It would not help.”

“But if your suspicions are correct, about the General-” 

“I have thy word not to talk about that,” Zoë said. She sounded really anguished. “We will find out soon enough. Now come. Dawn is breaking.”

Nico scooted out of their way. Percy almost didn’t move in time not to be bowled over by Zoë, but the two huntresses continued on normally to the Big House. 

He could tell what Nico was thinking. The kid took a deep breath and was about to run after his sister when Percy took off the invisibility cap and said, “Wait.”

He almost slipped on the icy steps as he spun around. “Where did you come from?”

“I’ve been here the whole time, just invisible.”

He mouthed the word invisible. “Wow. Cool.”

“So, how did you know Zoë and your sister were here?”

He blushed. “I heard them walk by the Hermes cabin. I don’t… I don’t sleep too well at camp. So I heard footsteps, and them whispering. And so I kind of followed.”

“And now you’re thinking about following them on the quest.”

“How did you know that?”

“Because if it was my sister, I’d probably be thinking the same thing. But you can’t.”

Nico looked defiant. “Because I’m too young?”

“Because they won’t let you. They’ll catch you and send you back here. And… well I won’t be a hypocrite and say too  _ young,  _ but you haven’t been trained yet. You can’t fight, and there will be a lot of monsters out there - some stronger than the manticore.”

His shoulders sagged. He shifted from foot to foot. “Maybe you’re right. But, but you can go for me.”

“Oh, really?”

“You can turn invisible. You can go!”

“The Hunters don’t like boys,” Percy said, trying to seem indecisive. It was fun to mess with little kids sometimes. “If the Hunters found out-”

“Don’t let them find out. Follow them invisibly. Keep an eye on my sister! You have to. Please?”

“Hmm… maybe…”

“You’re planning to go anyway, aren’t you?”

Percy let the kid stew for a moment before shrugging. “Yeah, I need to save Annabeth.”

“I won’t tell on you,” Nico said. “But you have to promise to keep my sister safe.” 

His expression became serious, for just a moment. This was the kind of promise he had to be fully honest and devoted to. “Nico, I swear. I’ll keep Bianca safe, and I’ll bring her back no matter what I have to do, got it?”

Nico nodded, smiling gratefully. 

“Tell Chiron-”

“I’ll make something up,” the kid said conspiratorially. “I’m good at that. Go on!”

Percy ran, putting on Annabeth’s cap as he went. As the sun came up, he hit the top of Half-Blood Hill, just in time to see the camp’s van disappearing down the farm road, taking the group into the city. Something told him Argus wasn’t driving. But he wasn’t too discouraged, he already had a ride of his own. 

Pulling off the invisibility cap and running a hand through his hair, he waited. Moments later, Blackjack landed next to him, casually sniffing at some tufts of grass through the thin layer of ice. 

_ If I was guessing, boss, I’d say you need a getaway horse. You interested?  _

“Yeah. Let’s go.” 

Maybe he would’ve looked a little crazy to other people, mortal and demigod alike, if they could see him. Blood-stained jeans, bed-head, a bright pink scarf wrapped around his neck, (and man was he glad for it, with the freezing air above the clouds,) and riding a huge flying horse. But he didn’t really care what other people thought of him, at this point. 

They had to keep up almost a game of chicken - ducking below the clouds just long enough to make sure they were still following the white Camp Half-Blood van, without letting any mortals notice them. They’d probably see a small helicopter or something, or maybe a drone, but it was still in their best interest not to cause a ruckus. 

They lost the van twice, but he had a pretty good idea of where they were going. They’d stop in Manhattan first, but after that he was a little fuzzy on the details until a certain gas station in Maryland. If nothing else he could probably find them there, considering Blackjack would need a break at some point.

It was mid morning before they got into the city. He landed Blackjack near the top of the Chrysler Building and watched the white camp van, giving the pegasus a moment to breathe as he tracked which exit they’d be taking out of Manhattan. 

_ Hey, look! There’s a doughnut shop. Can we hit the drive-thru?  _ Blackjack asked. 

Percy was just about to explain that he couldn’t exactly take a pegasus through a drive-thru, but he might be able to run in if the place didn’t look too busy inside. But he couldn’t get a word out before something caught him around the leg - something strong, and almost snake-like. 

Riptide was drawn in a second, as he rolled off Blackjack and sliced through whatever was grabbing him. Vines – grapevines – had sprouted from the cracks between the stones of the building. They were wrapping around Blackjack’s legs, lashing him down, and where he’d cut one a dozen more had found heir way around his waist. 

“Going somewhere?” Mr D asked. He was leaning against the building with his feet levitating in the air, his leopard-skin warm-up suit and black hair whipping around in the wind.

_ God alert!  _ Blackjack yelled.  _ It’s the wine dude!  _

Mr D sighed in exasperation. “The next person, or horse, who calls me ‘the wine dude’ will end up in a bottle of Merlot!”

“Mr D.” Percy tried to keep his voice level, taking a few quick, deep breaths to calm the battle instincts making his skin tingle and heart race uncomfortably. “What do you want?”

“Oh, what do I want? You thought, perhaps, that the immortal, all-powerful director of camp would not notice you leaving without permission?”

“Guess I was hoping you wouldn’t care enough to come after me.”

“I should throw you off this building, minus the flying horse, and see how heroic you sound on the way down.”

He gripped Riptide tightly, and shook his head. “‘M not trying to be heroic.” 

Purple flames flickered in Dyonisus’s eyes. “Then what, exactly,  _ are  _ you doing?”

It took a moment to really think of an answer. What  _ is  _ he doing? He’s trying to save someone, that’s heroic, he supposes. But is he really doing this for Annabeth’s sake, or his own? Percy knows he couldn’t live without her. Does that make this selfish? Or does someone’s reason for saving lives not matter? Jeez, he’s never been much of a philosopher. 

“...Okay, I guess I am being a bit of a hero. But is that really enough to hate me for?” The grapevines coiled tighter around him, just tight enough to make breathing difficult.

“Did I ever tell you about Ariadne?” Mr D asked. “Beautiful young princess of Crete? She liked helping her friends, too. In fact, she helped a young hero named Theseus, also a son of Poseidon. She gave him a ball of magical thread that let him find his way out of the Labyrinth. And do you know how Theseus rewarded her?” 

His head was swimming. What had been the point of this story, again? Look, his history was better than it used to be, but some things just weren’t worth remembering in the scheme of things. “They… got married. Then they got on a ship somewhere?” 

Mr D sneered. “Not quite. Theseus  _ said  _ he would marry her. He took her aboard his ship and sailed for Athens. Halfway back, on a little island called Naxos, he – what’s the word you mortals use today? – he dumped her. I found her there, you know. Alone. Heartbroken. Crying her eyes out. She had given up everything, left everything she knew behind, to help a dashing young hero who tossed her away like a broken sandal.”

“Oh. So I guess you’re about to say that a story from thousands of years ago has something to do with me, someone who was completely absent in that story.

Mr D regarded him coldly. “I fell in love with Ariadne, boy. I healed her broken heart. And, when she died, I made her my immortal wife in Olympus. She waits for me even now. I shall go back to her when I am done with this infernal century of punishment at your ridiculous camp.” 

“Well that’s really good for you mna, seri-”

“My point is you heroes never change. You accuse us gods of being vain. You should look at yourselves. You take what you want, use whoever you have to, and then you betray everyone around you. So you’ll excuse me if I have no love for heroes. They are a selfish, ungrateful lot. Ask Ariadne. Or Medea. For that matter, ask Zoë Nightshade.”

Percy scowled for a moment. “None of my business what her history is.”

Dionysus waved his hand dismissively. “Go. Follow your silly friends.” The vines uncurled from around him and Blackjack. 

“Letting me go, just like that?” 

“What do I care what happens to one little demigod? But mark my words, Son of Poseidon, live or die, you will prove no better than the other heroes.” 

With that, Dionysus snapped his fingers. His image folded up like a paper display. There was a pop and he was gone, leaving a faint scent of grapes that was quickly blown away by the wind. 

_ Too close, _ Blackjack said. 

Percy just nodded, and took a moment to regain his bearings. The white van was almost out of sight now, but he could see which road they were following for now. 

“C’mon, I’ll grab some doughnuts and then we’ll take off, buddy.”

It was a long time before the van slowed down again, in fact they went straight from Manhattan to Maryland. It was a long enough trip that he brought Blackjack down for a break half-way through. There was a small pond for the pegasus to drink from, which also helped to wash away the last of the powder left over from the doughnuts. (He hadn’t even realized just how covered in sugar they were until he saw his own reflection in the water.) His companion was still looking ready to fall out of the sky by the time Zoë and the others had stopped at a service station, though. 

_ I’ll be okay, boss,  _ he panted.  _ Just… just catching my breath. _

“Stay here,” Percy told him. “I’m going to scout.”

_ ‘Stay here’ I can handle. I can do that. _

Just as he turned the corner around to the front of the station, Zoë, Thalia, Bianca and Grover were all coming out of the store. 

“Grover, are you sure?” Thalia was saying. 

“Well… pretty sure. Ninety-nine percent. Okay, eighty-five percent.”

“And you did this with acorns?” Bianca asked, like she couldn’t believe it. 

Grover looked offended. “It’s a time-honoured tracking spell. I mean, I’m pretty sure I did it right.”

“D.C. is about sixty miles from here,” Bianca said. “Nico and I…” She frowned. “We used to lived there. That’s… that’s strange. I’d forgotten.”

“I dislike this,” Zoë said. “We should go straight west. The prophecy said west.”

“Oh, like your tracking skills are better?” Thalia growled. 

Zoë stepped towards her. “You challenge my skills, you scullion? You know nothing of being a Hunter!”

“Oh, scullion? You’re calling me a scullion? What the heck is a scullion?” 

“Whoa, you two,” Grover said nervously. “Come on. Not again!”

“Grover’s right,” Bianca said. “D.C. is our best bet.”

Zoë didn’t look convinced, but she nodded reluctantly. “Very well. Let us keep moving.”

“You’re going to get us arrested, driving,” Thalia grumbled. “I look closer to sixteen than you do.”

“Perhaps,” Zoë snapped. “But I have been driving since automobiles were invented. Let us go.” 

As Percy and Blackjack continued south, following the van, he let his thoughts wander a bit. Part of him did feel sorry, carrying around Anaklusmos with Zoë around. It’d be a pretty sore reminder. Seriously, if someone was walking around with Backbiter or something he wouldn’t really want to make friends with them, either. 

Eventually, Blackjack started slowing down and dropping altitude. He was breathing heavily. Percy felt bad for running him ragged like this - keeping up with highway traffic for half a day with barely any time to breathe? But unfortunately, short of stealing a car, there was no other way for him to follow his friends, even if he knew where they were going. 

“Are you alright?”

_ Fine, boss. I could… I could take on an army.  _

“You don’t sound so good.”

_ Don’t worry about me, boss! I’m a tough one.  _

At least the van had started slowing down below them. It crossed the Potomac River into central Washington.

“Set me down there,” he told Blackjack, when they were at the Washington Monument. “That’s close enough” 

Blackjack was so tired he didn’t complain. He dropped down and set Percy on the grass, the van only a few blocks away. Zoë had parked at the curb. 

“Go on and get back to camp. I think I’ll be fine from here.”

Blackjack cocked his head skeptically.  _ You sure, boss?  _

“Yeah. Thanks a ton for this, buddy.”

_ A ton of hay, maybe _ , Blackjack mused.  _ That sounds good. All right, but be careful, boss. I got a feeling they didn’t come here to meet anything friendly and handsome like me. _

Blackjack took off, circling twice around the monument before disappearing into the clouds. Everybody was getting out of the van. Grover pointed towards one of the big buildings lining the mall. Thalia nodded, and the four of them trudged off into the cold wind. 

He started following, before a thought occurred to him like dropping a can of soda on your own foot, and he started searching up and down the streets. There, about a block away, the door of a black sedan opened. A man with a grey military haircut got out. He was wearing dark shades and a black overcoat. The guy took out his cell phone and said something into it. Then he looked around, like he was making sure the coast was clear, and started walking down the mall in the direction of his friends. 

Dr-not-actually-a-doctor Thorn. 

  
  
  
  
  
  



	8. Sadder than a drowned kitten

Invisibility cap on, he followed Thorn from a distance. The manticore kept well back from his friends, careful not to be seen. Finally, Grover stopped in front of a big building that said AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM. The Smithsonian. Percy had been there a long time ago, as a little kid with his mom, when everything looked so much bigger, and once more when he was fourteen - doing exactly what he’s doing right now.

Thalia checked the door. It was open, but there weren’t many people going in. It was too cold, and the school holidays. They slipped inside. Dr Thorn hesitated, before ultimately turning around and going somewhere else. Figuring it was more important to stop Thorn from getting up to anything, Percy followed the monster. Besides, he wanted to check up on dear-ol’ Luke. 

The manticore crossed the street and climbed the steps of the Museum of Natural History. There was a big sign on the door that read: CLOSED FOR PRIVATE EVENT. (Nevermind that he accidentally read ‘private’ as ‘pirate the first two times.’) He followed Dr Thorn inside, through a huge chamber full of mastodons and dinosaur skeletons. There were voices up ahead, coming from behind a set of closed doors, where two guards stood outside. They opened the doors for Thorn, and Percy was careful to slip in quietly to avoid getting left outside. 

Inside, was a huge round room with a balcony ringing the second level; at least a dozen mortal guards stood on the balcony, plus two Scythian dracaenae. And there, standing between the snake women, was Luke Castellan. He looked terrible: skin pale and his blond hair practically grey, as if he’d aged ten years in a day. In a way, he had - holding up the sky for even a few minutes could do that to a person. (Well, it’d kill a human instantly, but a demigod could manage it for a little while, if they’re lucky.) 

The angry light in his eyes was still there, and so was the scar down the side of his face, but now the scar was an ugly red like it’d been reopened recently. Next to him, sitting down so that the shadows covered him, was another man. All he could see were his knuckles on the gilded arms of the throne-like chair, but Percy knew right away it was Atlas. 

“Well?” asked the Titan from his chair. The voice was familiar not just from more than decade-old memories, but from recent dreams as well. 

Dr Thorn took off his shades. His two-coloredStreetwear eyes, brown and blue, glittered with excitement. He made a stiff bow, then spoke in his almost-French accent: “They are here, General.”

“I know that, you fool,” Atlas boomed. “But where?”

“In the rocket museum.”

“The Air and Space Museum,” Luke corrected irritably. Dr Thorn glared at him. 

“As you say, sir.” The tone he spoke in suggested he’d just as soon rip Luke to shreds as call him ‘sir’.

“How many?” Luke asked. Thorn pretended not to hear. 

“How many?” the Titan demanded. 

“Four, General,” Thorn said. “The satyr, Grover Underwood. And the girl with the spiky black hair and the – how do you say – punk clothes, and the horrible shield.”

“Thalia,” Luke said. 

“And two other girls – Hunters. One wears a silver circlet.”

“That one I know,” Atlas growled. Everyone in the room shifted uncomfortably. 

“Let me take them,” Luke said to Atlas. “We have more than enough-”

“Patience,” the Titan spoke. “They’ll have their hands full already. I’ve sent a little playmate to keep them occupied.”

Percy supposed if anyone knew how to be patient, it’d be the guy who sat on a mountain holding up the sky for thousands of years. 

“But-”

“We cannot risk you, my boy.” Atlas cut him off. 

“Yes, boy,” Dr Thorn said with a cruel smile. “You are much too fragile to risk. Let me finish them off.”

“No.” ‘The General’ rose from his chair, and Percy could finally see him fully. He was tall and muscular, with light brown skin and slicked-back dark hair. He wore an expensive brown silk suit like the guys on Wall Street wear, but he didn’t look anything like a broker. He had a brutal face, huge shoulders, and hands that could snap a flagpole in half. The Titan’s eyes were like staring at a stone wall. 

“You have already failed me, Thorn,” he said. 

“But, General-”

“No excuses!”

Thorn flinched. (Really, he’d thought this guy was tough shit once?)

“I should throw you into the pits of Tartarus for your incompetence,” the Titan said. “I send you to capture a child of the three elder gods, and you bring me a scrawny daughter of Athena.”

“But you promised me revenge!” the manticore protested. “A command of my own!”

“I am Lord Kronos’s senior commander,”Atlas said. “And I will choose lieutenants who get me results! It was only thanks to Luke that we salvaged our plan at all. Now get out of my sight, Thorn, until I find some other menial task for you.”

Thorn’s face turned purple with rage. It looked like he was going to start frothing at the mouth or shooting spines, but he just bowed awkwardly and left the room. 

“Now, my boy.” Atlas turned to Luke. “The first thing we must do is isolate the half-blood Thalia. The monster we seek will then come to her.”

“The Hunters will be difficult to dispose of,” Luke said. “Zoë Nightshade-” 

“Do not speak her name!”

Luke swallowed. “S-sorry, General. I just-”

The Titan silenced him with a wave of his hand. “Let me show you, my boy, how we will bring the Hunters down.” He pointed to a guard on the ground level. “Do you have the teeth?” 

The guy stumbled forward with a ceramic pot. “Yes, General!”

“Plant them,” he said. 

In the center of the room was a big circle of dirt, where maybe a dinosaur exhibit was supposed to go. Percy watched, feeling a twinge of disgust as the guard took sharp white teeth out of the pot and pushed them into the soil. He smoothed them over while the General smiled coldly. The guard stepped back from the dirt and wiped his hands. 

_ Seriously, why does it have to be teeth? _ The son of Poseidon thought.

“Ready, General!”

“Excellent! Water them, and we will let them scent their prey.”

The guard picked up a little tin watering can with daisies painted on it, and poured out a liquid that was  _ definitely  _ not water. It was thick and red - and something told him it wasn't ketchup, either. The soil began to bubble. 

“Soon,” Atlas said, “I will show you, Luke, soldiers that will make your army from that little boat look insignificant.”

Luke clenched his fists. “I’ve spent a year training my forces! When the  _ Princess Andromeda _ arrives at the mountain, they’ll be the best-”

“Ha!” the Titan laughed. “I don’t deny your troops will make a fine honormeters for Lord Kronos. And you, of course, will have a role to play, but under my leadership, the forces of Lord Kronos will increase a hundredfold. We will be unstoppable. Behold, my ultimate killing machines.” 

The soil erupted, and in each spot where a tooth had been planted, a creature was struggling out of the dirt. The first of them said: “Mew?” It was a kitten. A little orange tabby with stripes like a tiger. Then another appeared, until there were a dozen, rolling around and playing in the dirt. Everyone stared at them in disbelief. 

Atlas roared, “What is this? Cute cuddly kittens? Where did you find those teeth?”

The guard who’d brought the teeth cowered in fear. “From the exhibit, sir! Just like you said. The saber-toothed tiger-”

“No, you idiot! I said the tyrannosaurus! Gather up those… those infernal fuzzy little beasts and take them outside. And never let me see your face again.” The terrified guard dropped his watering can. He gathered up the kittens and scampered out of the room. 

“You!” The General pointed to another guard. “Get me the right teeth. NOW!” The new guard ran off to carry out his orders. 

“Imbeciles,” the Titan muttered. 

“This is why I don’t use mortals,” Luke said. “They are unreliable.”

“They are weak-minded, easily bought and violent,” the Titan said. “I love them.”

A minute later, the guard hustled into the room with his hands full of large pointy teeth. 

“Excellent,” Atlas smiled in a way Percy wasn’t sure faces were meant to contort.. He climbed onto the balcony railing and jumped down, six metres. Where he landed, the marble floor cracked under his leather shoes. He stood, wincing, and rubbed his shoulders. “Curse my stiff neck.”

“Another hot pad, sir?” a guard asked. “More Tylenol?”

“No! It will pass.” The General brushed off his silk suit, then snatched up the teeth. “I shall do this myself.” He held up one of the teeth and smiled. “Dinosaur teeth – ha! Those foolish mortals don’t even know when they have dragon teeth in their possession. And not just any dragon teeth. These come from the ancient Sybaris herself! They shall do nicely.” 

He planted them in the dirt, twelve in all. Then he scooped up the watering can. He sprinkled the soil with the (probably) blood, tossed the can away, and held his arms out wide. “Rise!” 

The dirt trembled. A single, skeletal hand shot out of the ground, grasping at the air. Atlas looked up at the balcony. “Quickly, do you have the scent?”

“Yesssss, lord,” one of the dracanae said. She took out a sash of silvery fabric, like the kind the Hunters wore. 

“Excellent,” the Titan said. “Once my warriors catch its scent, they will pursue its owner relentlessly. Nothing can stop them, no weapons known to half-blood or Hunter. They will tear the Hunters and their allies to shreds. Toss it here!” 

As he said that, skeletons erupted from the ground. There were twelve of them, one for each tooth the General had planted. They were growing flesh as Percy watched, turning into men, but men with dull grey skin, yellow eyes and modern clothes – skin-tight grey vests, camo trousers and combat boots. If you didn’t look too closely, you could almost believe they were human, but their flesh was transparent and their bones shimmered underneath, like X-ray images. 

Just as one of them turned to look straight at Percy, he knew he was just about overstaying his welcome. The dracanae dropped the scarf, letting it flutter down to Atlas, and he was tempted to run. But he couldn’t let those things get Zoë’s scent, because then there would be very little he could do to stop them; he vaguely remembered something about Bianca being able to kill them, but he wasn’t just going to sick them all on her and hope things worked out. He’d promised to  _ protect her,  _ dammit. 

Shaking his head and hoping this wasn’t as stupid an idea as he thought it was, he ran forward and yanked the scarf out of the air before it could reach the Titan's hands. At the same time, he threw Aphrodite’s pink scarf in Atlas’s face, making a satisfying  _ thwack.  _

It wouldn’t hold up under a single ounce of scrutiny, but Percy hoped it’d provide enough of a distraction for him to book it. 

“What’s this?” bellowed the General. 

Percy ended up almost running straight into a skeleton warrior, who hissed. 

“An intruder,” Atlas growled, tearing the scarf from his face. “One cloaked in darkness. Seal the doors!” 

“It’s Percy Jackson!” Luke yelled. “It has to be!” 

He just ran for the doors, barely making it through before they slammed shut behind him. With his heart racing, Percy laughed hysterically as he fled the area, high on adrenaline and thrilled that for once, his own dumbass plan had worked out. Now he could only hope none of the skeletons had gotten enough of a whiff of him to pursue. And that Aphrodite’s scent on that scarf was enough to overpower his own to any undead noses. 

He tore across the mall like a Fury out of the Underworld, eventually making his way into the Air and Space Museum, taking off the invisibility cap once he was past the admissions area. The main part of the museum was one huge room with rockets and aeroplanes hanging from the ceiling. Three levels of balconies curled round, so you could look at the exhibits from all different heights. The place wasn’t crowded, just a few families and a couple of tour groups of kids - either from a boarding school or on some unfortunate field trip  _ during  _ winter break. He didn’t have the time or patience to make every mortal in a mile radius to get out of the area, so Percy just worked on trying to find his friends. 

He ran into Thalia – literally. On his way up to the top-floor balcony, where he remembered finding them last time, he practically bowled over Thalia, knocking her into an Apollo space capsule. Grover yelped in surprise. Before he had even fully registered what had just happened, Zoë and Bianca had arrows notched, aimed at his chest. 

Even after realizing it was just Percy, Zoë didn’t seem anxious to lower her bow. “You! How dare you show thy face here?”

“Percy!” Grover said. “Thank goodness.” Zoë glared at him, and he blushed. “I mean, um, gosh. You’re not supposed to be here!”

“Luke’s here,” he said carefully, not trying to give the Hunters a reason to shoot. “And the General, too.” 

The anger in Thalia’s eyes immediately melted. She put her hand on her silver bracelet. “Where?” 

“General is here?” Zoë looked stunned. “That is impossible! You lie.”

“Why would I lie about this? Look, there isn’t exactly a whole lot of time to debate, they just summoned twelve very nasty-looking skeleton warriors that may or may not be on our tail soon.” Percy took the briefest amount of time possible to explain everything he’d seen.

“So twelve undead, scent-tracking zombies are after us?” Thalia asked. 

“ _ May  _ be after us. The love-magic might make it hard to smell me.” 

She and Grover exchanged looks. 

“We were following Artemis’s trail,” Grover said. “I was pretty sure it led here. Some powerful monster scent… She must’ve stopped here looking for the mystery monster. But we haven’t found anything yet.’”

“Zoë,” Bianca said nervously, “if it is the Genera-”

“It cannot be!” Zoë snapped. “Percy must have seen an Iris-message or some other illusion.”

“Illusions don’t exactly crack marble floors, or get hit by physical things,” he insisted. 

Zoë took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. He knew it was hard for her, trying to face the prospect that her father was here, and the implications that held. Percy wanted to save her too, but something told him there wasn’t a whole lot he could do against a prophecy like this - unless he’d changed something and Poseidon was gonna drop by and smite him this week. 

“If Percy is telling the truth about the skeleton warriors,” Zoë said, “we have no time to argue. They are the worst, the most horrible… We must leave now.” 

“Good idea,” he said. 

“I was not including thee, boy.” Zoë scowled. “You are not part of this quest.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll just go home next time your lives are in danger.” 

“You shouldn’t have come, Percy,” Thalia said grimly. “But you’re here now. Come on. Let’s get back to the van.”

“That is not thy decision!” Zoë snapped. 

The daughter of Zeus scowled at her. “You’re not the boss here, Zoë. I don’t care how old you are! You’re still a conceited little brat!”

“You never had any wisdom when it came to boys,” Zoë growled. “You never could leave them behind!” 

Thalia looked like she was about to deck the Hunter. Then everyone froze. Below them, there was a growl so loud it might’ve been a rocket engine startling, and a few adults screamed. A little kid’s voice screeched with delight: “Kitty!” 

Something enormous bounded up the ramp. It was the size of a pick-up truck, with silver claws and golden glittering fur. He remembered seeing it somewhere before, but couldn’t really remember where. (besides in the museum, duh.)

“The Nemean Lion,” Thalia said. “Don’t move.” 

The lion roared so loudly, Percy could feel the beast’s breath from a way away. It didn’t seem like catnip would be enough to make it go away, unfortunately.

“Separate on my mark,” Zoë said. “Try to keep it distracted.”

“Until when?” Grover asked. 

“Until I think of a way to kill it. Go!”

He uncapped Riptide and rolled to the left as arrows whizzed past, and Grover played a sharp tweet-tweet cadence on his reed pipes. Zoë and Bianca were climbing the Apollo Capsule, either for high ground or to make the others more appealing targets, he wasn’t sure. They were firing arrows, one after another, all shattering harmlessly against the lion’s metallic fur. The lion swiped the capsule and tipped it on its side, spilling the Hunters off the back. Grover played a frantic, horrible tune, and the lion turned towards him, but Thalia stepped into its path, holding up Aegis, and the lion recoiled. “ROOOAAAR!”

She shouted right back at the lion, holding up Aegis as she tried to force it back. The lion growled and clawed the air, but it retreated as if the shield were a blazing fire. But it wasn’t backing down - Percy saw the lion crouching, its leg muscles tensing. It was rearing to pounce. 

“Hey!” he called to get the monster’s attention as he charged, bringing Riptide down across the lion’s back. But the sword just slid off in a rain of sparks; the lion roared, swiping at him with huge, sharp claws.

He backed up just in time to only lose some of his coat and shirt, and ended up backing into the railings behind him. There was nowhere to go but down, so Percy jumped. He landed on the wing of an old-fashioned silver aeroplane, which pitched and almost spilled him to the floor, three stories below. 

An arrow nearly took off one of his ears, as the lion jumped onto the aeroplane, and the cords holding it began to groan. The lion swiped again, and he moved onto the next hanging exhibit: a weird-looking spacecraft with blades like a helicopter. 

Distantly, he knew the only soft spot on this thing was it’s insides, but there was no way for him to get at it without losing his sword at best and his arm at worst. He shouted to the Hunters to aim their arrows for the lion’s mouth, just as he was forced to jump, once again, to another hanging item. This time it was a model of the Earth, and he hoped the grooves of Canada’s mountains would give him enough of a grip, since there was nothing else with an edge to hold onto. He almost wanted to laugh, because his sneakers were squeaking against Australia, but didn’t really have the breath to do it. 

The Nemean Lion growled and steadied itself on the spacecraft, but its weight was too much, and one of the cords snapped. As the display swung down like a pendulum, the lion leaped off onto the model earth’s North Pole. Percy sent a quick prayer to thank whoever had made sure the thing didn’t

“Grover, clear the area!” he shouted.

Groups of kids were running around screaming. Grover tried to corral them away from the monster just as the other cord on the spaceship snapped and the exhibit crashed to the floor. Thalia dropped off the second-floor railing and landed across from him, on the other side of the globe. The lion regarded them both, trying to decide which to kill first. Zoë and Bianca were above, bows ready, but they kept having to move around to get a good angle. 

“No clear shot!” Zoë yelled. “Get it to open its mouth more!”

The lion snarled from the top of the globe. Turning around in a quick circle, looking for something he could use, his eyes landed on the water fountains off to his right. It wasn’t the best or kindest plan, but it was the first one that came to mind. 

Grimacing, because really this thing wasn’t too intelligent - it was just following orders and really didn’t deserve this, Percy asked Thalia to hold the monster off for a minute. He’d need time to get enough water for this, even if he made the pipes explode. She nodded sharply to him, and he focused almost entirely on the flow of water throughout the building. It was all kinda… grimy feeling? Or the opposite, really. The feeling of tap water was always kinda wrong, like most liquids with enough water for him to control it but that didn’t come directly from the ocean. One time Annabeth had bought a bottle of alkaline water, and when she brought it home he almost didn’t think it was water at all when he sensed it...

The sound of electricity crackling to his left was a grim reminder about why he was glad he and Thalia didn’t fight as much, now. Even redirecting the flow of lighting through water didn’t make it pleasant, it made his skin prickly like putting cold hands into hot water. 

“Percy, whatever you’re going to do-” she called, “please hurry it up!”

He knew she’d heard the gushing of water - but he didn’t just let it flood the room, with miss lighting less than twenty feet away. It was condensed into an almost circular shape, just gaining mass until he was confident it was roughly lion-sized. (Look, he doesn’t know if monster lions have secret gills or something, sue him for being cautious.) 

“Okay,” he said. “Get back, Thalia!” 

Just as she jumped away from the monster and was out of the potential splash-zone, he moved. His natural instinct was to send the water in a wave, but he concentrated it on keeping it’s more spherical shape as it encased the monster. The lion tried to be smart and run away, to escape it, but unfortunately Percy couldn’t let it go that easily. Mentally counting the seconds, and keeping a close eye on the now panicking lion, he let go around the two-minutes forty-seconds mark. Even with what seemed to be a decent lung capacity, it was more than enough to leave the monster gasping loudly, no longer caring how wide it opened its mouth. 

“Now!” He shouted, carefully ignoring the looks he was getting from everyone. 

Immediately, arrows sprouted from the lion’s maw – two, four, six. The lion thrashed wildly, turned and fell backwardzeroed. And then it was still. 

Alarms wailed throughout the museum. People were flocking to the exits. Security guards were running around in a panic with no idea what was going on. Grover was at Thalia’s side, checking her over. She seems fine, just battle-worn like the rest of them. 

Zoë and Bianca dropped from the balcony and landed next to him. Zoë eyed Percy cautiously. “That was… an interesting strategy.”

“Worked didn’t it?” he asked. She didn’t argue. 

The monster seemed to be melting, the way dead monsters do sometimes, until there was nothing left but its glittering fur coat, and even that seemed to be shrinking to the size of a normal lion’s pelt. 

“Take it,” Zoë said to him. 

He stared at her. “What? Why?”

“It is a spoil of war,” she replied. “It is rightly thine.”

“You and Bianca killed it.”

She shook her head, almost smiling, he thought. “I think thy methods made such possible. Fair is fair, Percy Jackson. Take the fur.” 

He lifted it up; light enough you’d never know it’d been a whole lion’s fur. It was smooth and soft, feeling nothing at all like something that could stop a blade. As he held it up, the pelt shifted and changed into a full-length golden-brown coat. Shrugging it on to free his hands, Percy figured style wasn’t high on a magic item’s list of priorities most of the time anyway. And honestly, it wasn’t on his either. 

“We have to get out of here,” Grover said. “The security guards won’t stay confused for long.”

Said guards were scrambling in all directions except the one of the adventurers, like they were madly searching for something. A few were running into the walls or each other. 

“Your work?” Percy asked his satyr friend.

He nodded, looking a little embarrassed. “A minor confusion song. I played some Barry Manilow. It works every time. But it’ll only last a few seconds.”

“The security guards are not our biggest worry,” Zoë said. ‘“Look.”

Through the glass walls of the museum, they could see a group of men walking across the lawn. Grey men in grey camouflage outfits. They were too far away for us to see their eyes, but he could feel their gaze zero’d in on him. 

Sighing, Percy gave himself three seconds to call himself an idiot internally. Of course they were able to follow him, he hadn’t even felt a bit of the love goddess’s magic on that scarf when he’d grabbed it a couple nights ago. Was itin person stupid or arrogant that he’d thought he was just immune?

“We gotta go. They’re after me, I can lead them-”

“No,” Zoë said. “We go together.” 

He appreciated the sentiment, even if his train of thought had been ‘I’ll lead them away while you guys start the car and I’ll meet up with you,’ instead of something dumb that would leave him straded with twelve super soldiers he couldn’t kill following him. But Percy didn’t say that aloud, just nodding and turning to run with his friends. 

_ Congrats Zoë, you just officially got promoted from traveling companion to friend for the second time!  _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	9. Hot chocolate cures all

The five were crossing the Potomac when they spotted the helicopter. It was a sleek black military model just like the one that had been at Westover Hall, and it was coming straight towards them. 

“They know the van,” Percy said. “We’ll have to ditch it.” 

Zoë swerved into the fast lane. The helicopter was gaining. 

“Maybe the military will shoot it down,” Grover said hopefully. 

“Even if it’s piloted by monsters, the military probably thinks it’s one of their own,” he replied, shaking his head. “Besides, it’s probably mortals with clearance to take one of those things on a joyride, anyway.” 

Gotta respect the fact that monsters understand how much power money has over humans, at least, for creatures that rarely used real currency. If a manticore wants a steak, it’s just going to take it, not reach into his fanny-pack for a few drachma.

The helicopter kept coming, making a lot better time than they were through D.C. traffic. 

Thalia closed her eyes and prayed hard. “Hey, Dad. A lightning bolt would be nice about now. Please?” But the sky stayed grey and snowy. No sign of a helpful thunderstorm. That wasn’t really the way you prayed to a parent to ask for help, especially if it was Zeus, but Percy didn’t comment. 

“There!” Bianca pointed. “That parking lot!”

“We’ll be trapped,” Zoë said. 

“Trust me.” 

Zoë shot across two lanes of traffic and into a mall parking lot on the south bank of the river. They all left the van and followed Bianca down some steps. 

“Subway entrance,” she said. “Let’s go south. Alexandria.”

“Anything,” Thalia agreed. 

They bought tickets and got through the turnstiles, looking back every few seconds for any signs of pursuit. A few minutes later they were safely aboard a southbound train, riding away from D.C. As the train came above ground, they could see the helicopter circling the parking lot, but it didn’t come after them.

Grover let out a sigh. “Nice job, Bianca, thinking of the subway.”

Bianca looked pleased. “Yeah, well. I remembered that station from when Nico and I came through last summer. I was really surprised to see it, because it wasn’t here when we used to live in D.C.” 

Grover frowned. “New? But that station looked really old.”

“I guess,” Bianca said. “But trust me, when we lived here as little kids, there was no subway.”

Thalia sat forward. “Wait a minute. No subway at all?”

Bianca nodded. Now, this probably would’ve been a good time to say anything if he had plans to, but this felt sorta like a crisi to figure out  _ after  _ the deadly quest was over and done with. 

He twisted the ring on his thumb absently, looking for something to distract himself with. The engraved waves were beautiful, and it made him smile to think that if he ever had to punch a monster with his left hand, it’d pack a bit of an extra punch with the celestial bronze. 

The others tried to ask more questions, but the sound of the helicopter was getting louder again. 

“We need to change trains,” he said. “Next station.” 

Over the next half hour, they changed trains twice to get away from the helicopter. Percy doesn’t think any of them kept track of exactly where they were going, and that theory was mostly confirmed when they finally got off the train and found themselves at the end of the line, in an industrial area with nothing but warehouses and railway tracks. And lots of snow. It was very cold, and suddenly he was glad Zoë had let him keep the lion pelt - it was a very warm coat.

The five of them wandered through the railway yard, hoping maybe another passenger train was around somewhere, but there were just rows and rows of freight cars; most of which were covered in snow, like they hadn’t moved in years. A homeless guy was standing at a trashcan fire. He figured they all looked pretty pathetic when the guy gave them all a toothless grin and said, “Y’ all need to get warmed up? Come on over!”

Stranger danger wasn’t exactly a rule for nothing, but they huddled around the fire anyway. Percy felt his fingers were numb, and the metal rings on his left hand didn’t help at all. Not that he was going to take them off, it always made his whole arm feel off-balanced when he did. Made the constant suffocating feeling in his chest just a little heavier. 

Thalia’s teeth were chattering. She said, “Well this is g-g-g-great.”

“My hooves are frozen,” Grover complained. Thankfully the homeless guy didn;t comment on that. (Strangely, something told Percy it didn’t matter, and not just because the guy looked a little crazy.) 

“Maybe we should contact camp,” Bianca suggested. “Chiron-”

“No,” Zoë said. “They cannot help us any more. We must finish this quest ourselves.”

“You know,” the homeless man interjected, “you’re never completely without friends.” His face was grimy and his beard tangled, but his expression seemed kindly. “You kids need a train going west?”

“Yes, sir,” Percy said. “Wouldn’t know any, would you?”

He pointed one greasy hand. Suddenly they all noticed a freight train, gleaming and free of snow. It was one of those automobile carrier trains, with steel mesh curtains and a triple-deck of cars inside. The side of the freight train said SUN WEST LINE. 

“That’s… convenient,” Thalia said. “Thanks, uh…” She turned to the homeless guy, but he was gone. The trashcan in front of them was cold and empty, as if he’d taken the flames with him. 

_ Thanks Apollo,  _ the son of Poseidon prayed silently.  _ At least, I hope that was you… _

An hour later they were rumbling west. There was no problem about who would drive now, because each of them got their own luxury car. Zoë and Bianca were crashed out in a Lexus on the top deck, Grover was playing race-car driver behind the wheel of a Lamborghini, and Thalia had hot-wired the radio in a black Mercedes SLK so she could pick up the alt rock stations from D.C. 

Percy slid into a silver BMW, and wished he could turn the heat on. Maybe he could ask Thalia to give it some power or something, if that’s how it works? But he also didn’t like the idea of accidentally setting off all the alarms and having to deal with that, so he just leaned the seat back and used his coat as a sort-of blanket. It was nice for a while, and he actually drifted to sleep for maybe an hour, without any dreams. 

When he awoke, he considered their final destination on this quest. He’d avoid thinking about the scrapyard for as long as he could, for now. The Mountain of Despair was known for having a really thick concentration of Mist, because of the lingering Titan magic. Not a nice place to be, with all the monsters it attracts, but if things mostly worked out the same… hopefully they wouldn’t have to worry about that.

He sighed.  _ Maybe I should tell wise girl. She’s always better at making plans, she’d do this all better. She wouldn’t have fallen if she knew…. _

Or maybe she’d just think he was insane and he’d lose one of the only people keeping him sane through all of this. Life’s a jerk like that, sometimes. 

As I watched the sun go down, Percy thought about Annabeth. About his dreams of her, and if she was alright. Honestly, he wasn’t sure he could handle another dream of seeing her kidnapped and hurt, knowing he'd have to see it in-person soon enough. 

“Oh, don’t be afraid of dreams,” a voice said to his right. Percy looked over. 

Somehow, he really wasn’t surprised to find the homeless guy from the railway yard sitting in the shotgun seat. His jeans were so worn out they were almost white. His coat was ripped, with stuffing coming out. He looked kind of like a teddy bear that had been run over by a truck, even if his general godly presence completely contradicted that image. 

“If it weren’t for dreams,” he said, “I wouldn’t know half the things I know about the future. They’re better than Olympus tabloids.” Apollo cleared his throat, then held up his hands dramatically:

“Dreams like a podcast, 

Downloading truth in my ears. 

They tell me cool stuff.” 

Percy smiled, and took a moment to think of something. It only seemed right, in the moment. 

“Apollo my dude, 

Thank you for all of the help, 

What are you here for?”

The god put a finger to his lips. “I’m incognito. Call me Fred.”

“A god named Fred, huh?” 

“Eh, well… Zeus insists on certain rules. Hands off, when there’s a human quest. Even when something really major is wrong. But nobody messes with my baby sister.  _ Nobody. _ ”

Percy nodded, and looked out the window to his left. They were moving faster than he expected, even for a god aiding their travel. 

“Just how fast are we going?” he asked, a little anxious at the blurring of trees and the idea of running over something and flipping over at this speed. Even if logically, that wouldn’t happen with a god’s car. 

Apollo chuckled. “Fast enough. Unfortunately, we’re running out of time. It’s almost sunset. But I imagine we’ll get you across a good chunk of America, at least.”

“That’s good. Any godly wisdom to part? Maybe where Artemis is?” It’d be so much easier to convince the others to follow him if he could claim Apollo told him where to go, or at least gave a good hint. 

The god’s face darkened. “I know a lot, and I see a lot. But even I don’t know that. She’s… clouded from me. I don’t like it.” 

“Clouded… like there might be a lot of magic blocking her from your senses?” 

“Hmmm. Maybe.”

Well, it was something at least. There aren’t exactly a lot of magic-abundant places the gods don’t know about, or have limited access to. He’d bring up the Mountain tomorrow. 

“Ah, look at the time! I have to run. I doubt I can risk helping you again, Percy, but remember what I said! Get some sleep! And when you return, I expect a good haiku about your journey!” 

Percy wanted to say he’d actually just woken up, but Apollo snapped his fingers, and the next thing he knew the world went dark. 

Unfortunately, this dream was all too familiar. He wasn’t himself - he was wearing an old-fashioned Greek tunic and laced leather sandals, the Nemean lion’s pelt wrapped around his shoulders like a cape; the more defined muscles and added height were also indicators. Someone was grabbing his hand tightly and dragging him along. Zoë Nightshade. 

“Hurry!” she said, clearly terrified. He could tell from the sound of her voice, even if it was too dark to see her face. “He will find us!” 

A million stars blazed above as they ran through tall grass, and the scent of a thousand different flowers made the air intoxicating. It was a beautiful garden, but Zoë was leading him through it as if they were about to die. 

“I’m not afraid,”  he Hercules said.

“You should be!” Zoë shouted, pulling him along. 

Her long dark hair was braided down her back, and her silk robes glowed faintly in the starlight. They raced up the side of the hill, until she pulled him behind a thorn bush and they collapsed, both breathing heavily. 

“There is no need to run,” Hercules told her. “I have bested a thousand monsters with my bare hands.”

“Not this one,” Zoë said. “Ladon is too strong. You must go round, up the mountain to my father. It is the only way.” 

“I don’t trust your father.”

“You should not,” she agreed. “You will have to trick him. But you cannot take the prize directly. You will die!”

Hercules chuckled. “Then why don’t you help me, pretty one?”

“I… I am afraid. Ladon will stop me. My sisters, if they found out… they would disown me.”

“Then there’s nothing for it.” He stood up, rubbing his hands together. 

“Wait!” Zoë called. She seemed to be agonizing over a decision. Then, her fingers trembling, she reached up and plucked a long white brooch from her hair. “If you must fight, take this. My mother, Pleoine, gave it to me. She was a daughter of the ocean, and the ocean’s power is within it. My immortal power.”

She breathed on the pin and it glowed faintly. It gleamed in the starlight like polished abalone. “Take it,” she told him. “And make of it a weapon.” 

Hercules laughed. “A hairpin? How will this slay Ladon, pretty one?” 

“It may not,” she admitted. “But it is all I can offer, if you insist on being stubborn.” Hercules reached down and took the hairpin, and, as he did, it grew longer and heavier in his hands, until he held a familiar bronze sword. 

“Well balanced,” he said. “Though, I usually prefer to use my bare hands. What shall I name this blade?”

“Anaklusmos,” Zoë said sadly. The current that takes one by surprise. And before you know it you have been swept out to sea.” Before he could thank her, there was a trampling sound in the grass, a hiss like air escaping a tire, and she said, “Too late! He is here!’”

Percy sat bolt upright in the BWM, noticing someone had opened the passenger door and was leaning in to shake him awake. 

“Percy,” Grover said. “It’s morning. The train’s stopped. Come on!”

Thalia, Zoë and Bianca had already rolled up the metal curtains. Outside were snowy mountains dotted with pine trees, the sun rising red between two peaks. Without thinking, he reached into his pocket for Riptide and gripped the pen tightly. Some guys, hero or not, deserved to have a pouch of Greek Fire shoved down their pants.

They’d arrived on the outskirts of a little ski town nestled in the mountains. The sign said WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT, NEW MEXICO. The air was cold and thin, and the roofs of the cabins were heaped with snow, and dirty mounds of it were piled up on the sides of the streets. Tall pine trees loomed over the valley, casting pitch-black shadows, though the morning was sunny. 

Even with the lion-skin coat, he was freezing by the time they got to Main Street, which was about half a mile from the train tracks. As they walked, Percy told Grover about his conversation with Apollo, and about his suspicions about the Mountain of Despair. 

Grover looked uneasy. “I mean, it seems like a stretch, don’t you think? But I guess… if you’re sure.”

“Right. We just have to get there first.” 

He didn’t want to make Grover too anxious, but they only had four more days until the winter solstice, and he’d really rather not visit Nereus again if he could avoid it. Maybe they could be  _ ahead  _ of schedule on a quest for once. 

The five stopped in the middle of town. You could pretty much see everything from there: a school, a bunch of tourist stores and cafés, some ski cabins, and a grocery store. 

“Great,” Thalia said, looking around.”‘No bus station. No taxis. No car rental. No way out.”

“There’s a coffee shop!” Grover exclaimed. 

“Yes,” Zoë said. “Coffee is good.”

“And pastries,” Grover said dreamily. “And wax paper.” Thalia sighed. 

“Fine. How about you two go get us some food. Percy, Bianca and I will check in the grocery store. Maybe they can give us directions.” 

They all agreed to meet back in front of the grocery store in fifteen minutes. Bianca looked a little uncomfortable coming with him and Thalia, but she did. Inside the store, they found out a few valuable things about Cloudcroft: there wasn’t enough snow for skiing, the grocery store sold rubber rats for a dollar each, and there was no easy way in or out of town unless you had your own car. 

“You could call for a taxi from Alamogordo,” the clerk said doubtfully. “That’s down at the bottom of the mountains, but it would take at least an hour to get here. Cost several hundred dollars.” The clerk looked so sad, Percy bought a rubber rat. It was sorta cute, in a way. Then the three of them headed back outside and stood on the porch. 

“Wonderful,” Thalia grumped. “I’m going to walk down the street, see if anybody in the other shops has a suggestion.”

He let her go. It wasn’t ever easy to sit still for a half-blood, with the ADHD and general looming dread of battle. Percy laughed a little to himself, remembering when one of Paul’s (mortal, obviously) friends suggested meditation. He’d tried for all of three minutes before giving up - being alone with his thoughts  _ and  _ sitting in the same position for hours? It was bound to be a disaster. 

Percy and Bianca stood together a little awkwardly. There wasn’t exactly a whole lot for the two to talk about, anyway. 

“Nice rat,” she said at last. 

He set it on the porch railing, staring into its eyes. Or, eye. One of them had been painted wrong or something and was the same grey as it’s face. 

“Hmmm… what should I name it?”

“What?” 

“I mean, I don’t know anything about rat gender, so that doesn’t really matter in the decision making. C’mon, what’s a good rodent name?”

“I… uhm. What about Baxter? Wait, no, that sounds like a dog-”

“Nope! Too late, it has been decided. Thus thy is named, Baxter the rat. May you have great luck in finding cheese and avoiding traps, godspeed.” 

They shared a laugh. It was nice to see they could still be normal after she’d… changed. Objectively, he’d known this version of her longer, but it was still drastic from the first time they’d met. Bianca was more confident, more at peace. She kept her hair tied back, looked people in the eyes as she spoke. 

It’d unnerved him before, Percy thinks. To think that she could be having a similar conversation with some other half-blood a hundred or a thousand years from now, and still look twelve. But now he was desperate for her to at least see the years a normal human would, and then however many more she wanted. 

“Nico didn’t understand my decision,” Bianca murmured, suddenly. She seemed like she was looking for approval of her decision.

“It’s alright, he’ll learn to accept it eventually. And while you’re off being a badass Hunter, I’ll be there for him. After we find Annabeth and Artemis, of course.”

Bianca nodded. “I hope we find them. Both of them. Annabeth’s lucky she has you as a friend.” 

Percy grinned. “I know you’ll probably be disgusted or whatever as a huntress, but I’m actually… I’m hoping for more than us, eventually.” 

He’d been meaning to find a way to ask her for so long but… each time it felt like he’d got up the courage over the past two years, he was suddenly hit with the fact that they were still so… young. It was  _ really  _ weird to look at your girlfriend/fiance/whatever they were, in his time, when she was still a kid.

“I’ve chosen to abstain from romance, but I can’t be mad at you for pursuing it. You two might be good together,” she smiled, oddly genuine. Not that he’d expected her to lie to him. 

Two hundred metres away, Grover and Zoë came out of the coffee shop loaded down with pastry bags and drinks. He decided to take their last few moments of solitude to bring up the important stuff. Carefully, though.

“So what’s the story with you and Nico? Where did you go to school before Westover?” 

She frowned. “I think it was a boarding school in D.C. It seems like so long ago.”

“You never lived with your mortal parent?” 

“We were told our parents were dead. There was a bank trust for us. A lot of money, I think. A lawyer would come by once in a while to check on us. Then Nico and I had to leave that school.”

“Why?” 

She knitted her eyebrows. “We had to go somewhere. I remember it was important. We traveled a long way. And we stayed in this hotel for a few weeks. And then… I don’t know. One day a different lawyer came to get us out. He said it was time for us to leave. He drove us back east, through D.C. Then up into Maine. And we started going to Westover.”

“Do you… I mean, do you happen to remember the name of that hotel?”

Bianca thought for a moment. “I think… the Lotus something or other. Why?”

“No reason. So, it’s just been you two all this time?” 

She nodded. “That’s why I wanted to join the Hunters so badly. I mean, I know it’s selfish, but I wanted my own life and friends. I love Nico – don’t get me wrong – I just needed to find out what it would be like not to be a big sister twenty-four hours a day.”

“I get it. I love Estelle with all my heart, but she can be such a handful-”

“You have a little sister? Is she a half-blood too? Where-”

Thank the gods, he was saved from having to explain his  _ major  _ verbal screw-up when Zoë and Grover arrived with the drinks and pastries. Hot chocolate for him and Bianca, coffee for them. He got a blueberry muffin, and it was so good he could almost ignore the weird look Bianca was giving him. 

“We should do the tracking spell,” Zoë said. “Grover, do you have any acorns left?”

“Umm,” Grover mumbled. He was chewing on a bran muffin, wrapper and all. “I think so. I just need to-” He froze. 

Percy was about to ask what was wrong when a warm breeze rustled past, like a gust of springtime had got lost in the middle of winter. Fresh air seasoned with wildflowers and sunshine. And something else - almost like a voice, trying to say something. A warning.

Zoë gasped. “Grover, thy cup.”

Grover dropped his coffee cup, which was decorated with pictures of birds. Suddenly the birds peeled off the cup and flew away – a tiny flock of doves. Baxter the rubber rat squeaked. It scampered off the railing and into the trees – real fur, real whiskers. Grover collapsed next to his coffee, which steamed against the snow. They gathered around him and tried to wake him up. He groaned, his eyes fluttering. 

“Hey!” Thalia called, running up from the street. “I just… What’s wrong with Grover?”

“Don’t know,” Percy said. “He collapsed.”

“Uuuuuhhhh,” Grover groaned. 

“Well, get him up!” Thalia said. She had her spear in her hand, and looked behind her as if she were being followed. “We have to get out of here.”

It was already too late for that, though. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	10. Prepare for skeleton war and a boar

They made it to the edge of the town before the first two skeleton warriors appeared. They stepped from the trees on either side of the road. Instead of grey camouflage, they were now wearing blue New Mexico State Police uniforms, but they had the same transparent grey skin and yellow eyes. They drew their handguns. Percy felt a sudden, inexplicable pain in his chest, and it was really hard not to double over and hurl his guts out right then. 

( _ It’s a warm day, it's sunnier than usual and really hot, he’s taking the bus to get groceries because it’s just too hot to walk. Some guy gets up and starts shouting, he’s waving a gun around- _ )

Thalia tapped her bracelet, Aegis spiralling to life on her arm, but the warriors didn’t flinch. Their glowing yellow eyes bored right into him. But he couldn’t breathe, why can’t he- 

( _ He has to stop this, he has to, there’s at least eight other people on this bus, he can’t let them get hurt, not after all the times he’s risked his life to save the mortals without them even knowing it. He has to, no one else will, no one else is trained in combat, if he can just get close and disarm-) _

Poseidon and Bianca drew their bows, but Bianca was having trouble because Grover kept swooning and leaning against her. 

“Back up,” Thalia ordered. 

They could barely take one step before the bushes rustled and Two more skeletons appeared on the road behind them. They were surrounded. One of the warriors raised a cell phone to his mouth and spoke into it. Except he wasn’t really,  _ speaking,  _ he made a clattering, clicking sound, like dry teeth on bone. Seems they were calling backup, not good. 

_ (Bang, bang bang. Three shots, center mass. One of them has to be in his lung, because he’s coughing up blood. People are screaming, the bus driver swerves and suddenly stops, the hijacker gets thrown. He’s lying face-down, it’s so warm underneath him. Warm and sticky and so, so painful. Water, he needs water, or ambrosia, please  _ **_please he’s dying he can feel it he’s slipping away he’s not ready to go yet-_ ** )

“It’s near,” Grover moaned. “The gift. The gift from the Wild.” 

“We’ll have to go one on one,” Thalia said, ignoring the satyr’s rambling. “Four of them. Four of us. Maybe they’ll ignore Grover that way.”

“Agreed,” Zoë nodded. 

“The Wild!” Grover cried.

A warm wind blew through the canyon, rustling the trees, but Percy couldn’t feel much besides the weird sensation buzzing over his skin. It wasn’t like it normally felt when he was dissociating, but he recognized the way his eyes refused to focus. There was no ringing in his ears, in fact, if anything he was hyper-aware of each and every sound occurring, but that didn’t mean much right now. 

(He’s ready for this. Is he? His thoughts are calm now but he feels so heavy, something’s crushing him from the inside out and it won’t go away. Even as he feels his - ghost? Spirit? Whatever, separate from his body. But he’s not going to Elysium. He’s not even going to the fields of Asphodel or Punishment. No, he’s going to wake up twelve years old again with the weight of the world on his shoulders, but it’s tenfold now because he really  _ understands  _ the consequences of failure-)

Before he can even think, Percy is running at the first skeleton. He knows he can’t do any good, but maybe, just maybe if he fights something he can feel something less terrible. The adrenaline rush, anything was better than this pain in his chest, the phantoms of pain he’s technically never felt yet, and he hopes he never will. Getting stabbed in the lung by Luke came close, but somehow wasn’t the same. 

He slashed wildly, hacking off both arms and a leg. The skeleton collapsed, as his bones unknitted and clattered to the tarmac in a heap. Almost immediately, they began to move, reassembling themselves. The second skeleton clattered his teeth and tried to fire, but Percy knocked his gun into the snow. He cut the monster down again, only to feel two very forceful impacts against his back. 

“Percy!” Thalia screamed, as he fell face-first into the asphalt. The Nemean lion’s fur was bulletproof, thankfully, but the sound of the shots firing was enough to keep him down for a minute. The sound echoed in his ears, and his hands shook as he stood back up. He just gripped Riptide tighter. 

Thalia charged the second skeleton. Zoë and Bianca started firing arrows at the third and fourth. Grover stood there and held his hands out to the trees, looking like he wanted to hug them. There was a crashing sound in the forest to our left, like a bulldozer, though something told him it wasn’t more skeletons. As the first monster reformed yet again right in front of him, Percy got frustrated and yelled:

“Bianca! Ditch the bow and stab them!” 

Zoë and Bianca were firing at skeletons' heads point-blank, but the arrows just whistled straight through their empty skulls. Almost as soon as Bianca heard him though, one charged at her and she took his advice, apparently. She shoved her hunting knife right into the thing’s chest and the whole skeleton erupted into flames, leaving a little pile of ashes and a police badge. 

“How did you do that?” Zoë demanded. 

“I- I don’t know. Percy, how’d you know that would work?” 

“Doesn’t matter!” Thalia called. “Do it again!”

Bianca tried, but the remaining three skeletons were wary of her now. They pressed them back, keeping the adventurers at baton’s length. No one said anything as they were retreating, but then the trees behind the skeletons were shivering. Branches were cracking. 

“A gift,” Grover muttered. And then, with a mighty roar, a wild boar - ten metersdefenseith a snotty pink snout and tusks the size of canoes - burst into the clearing. Its back bristled with brown hair, and its eyes were wild and angry. ‘REEEEEEEEET!’ it squealed, and raked the three skeletons aside with its tusks. The force was so great they went flying over the trees and into the side of the mountain, where they smashed to pieces, thigh bones and arm bones twirling everywhere. 

Then the pig turned on them. Thalia raised her spear, but Grover yelled, “Don’t kill it!” The boar grunted and pawed the ground, ready to charge. 

“That’s the Erymanthian Boar,” Zoë said, trying to stay calm. “I don’t think we  _ can _ kill it.”

“It’s a gift,” Grover said. “A blessing from the Wild!” 

The boar cried ‘REEEEEET!’ and swung its tusk. Zoë and Bianca dived out of the way. Percy barely pushed Grover out of the way from being impaled. Or more like cut in half, by the size of those tusks. 

“Scatter!” someone yelled. They all ran in different directions, and for a moment the boar was confused. 

“It wants to kill us!” Thalia said. 

“Of course,” Grover said. “It’s wild!”

“So how is that a blessing?” Bianca asked. It seemed a fair question, but the pig was offended and charged her. She was faster than she seemed, and she rolled out of the way of its hooves and came up behind the beast. It lashed out with its tusks and pulverized the WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT sign. 

Percy tried to think about the boar and how it’s been defeated by Hercules, but he was still trying to reorient himself mentally. His heart was beating out of his chest, and he knew anyone who even glanced at Anaklusmos would see how badly he was shaking. 

_ Note to self: guns are a big no-no, kill them with fire. Or whatever kills guns. _

“Keep moving!’” Zoë yelled. She and Bianca ran in opposite directions. Grover danced around the boar, playing his pipes while the boar snorted and tried to gouge him. But Percy and Thalia won the prize for bad luck. When the boar turned on us, Thalia made the mistake of raising Aegis in defence. The sight of the Medusa head made the boar squeal in outrage, and it charged both of them. They only managed to keep ahead of it because they ran uphill, and could dodge in and out of trees while the boar had to plow through them. On the other side of the hill, he found an old stretch of train tracks, half buried in the snow. 

“This way!” he grabbed Thalia’s arm and they ran along the rails while the boar roared behind them, slipping and sliding as it tried to navigate the steep hillside. Its hooves were just not made for this, thank the gods. Ahead, he saw a covered tunnel. Past that, an old trestle bridge spanning a gorge. Suddenly he had a  _ very  _ stupid idea. 

“Follow me!” 

Thalia slowed down, but Percy pulled her along and she reluctantly followed. Behind them, a ten-ton pig tank was knocking down pine trees and crushing boulders under its hooves as it chased them. He and Thalia ran into the tunnel and came out on the other side. 

“No!” She screamed. She’d turned as white as ice. They were at the edge of the bridge; below, the mountain dropped away into a snow-filled gorge about twenty meters below. The boar was right behind them. 

“Come on! It’ll hold our weight, probably.” He said. 

“I can’t!” Thalia yelled. Her eyes were wild with fear. The boar smashed into the covered tunnel, tearing through at full speed. 

“Thalia, I’m gonna share a little secret with you, okay? For years, I was  _ terrified  _ of drowning, until the first time I went underwater and I could breathe just fine. You’re a child of Zeus,  _ think.  _ What is he the lord of? What should be the  _ safest place in the gods-damned world for you to be?” _

Something flashed in her eyes, and while her face was still turning greener than a ripe avocado, she nodded and let herself be led onto the bridge. They got on just in time for the boar to burst through the tunnel, and were half-way across when it followed them. The wood creaked and groaned, and almost instantly fell apart beneath them. The boar free-fell into the gorge with a mighty squeal and landed in a snowdrift with a huge  _ POOOOOF!  _

Thalia was shrieking as they fell, but he reached for her arm and gripped tightly. It looked like she was crying, but that might just be the wind hitting their faces. He tried to send the most reassuring look he could, and she nodded, closing her eyes. Moments away from meeting the same unfortunate fate at the boar, the wind around them changed and ceased their fall. It was a familiar feeling - Percy had been on a few rides through the sky with Jason. Suddenly, it gave out and they fell the last few feet into the snow. Thalia would have to work on her landings, but he wouldn’t hold it against her this time. 

They were both breathing hard. He was still trembling. Thalia had pine needles in her hair. Next to them, the wild boar was squealing and struggling. All he could see was the bristly tip of its back; it was wedged completely in the snow like Styrofoam packing. It didn’t seem to be hurt, but it wasn’t going anywhere, either. 

Percy smiled at Thalia. “I knew you could do it.” 

“I- but how? Even  _ I  _ didn’t know I could do that.” She seemed to also be asking if she’d really been the one to save them, in that sentence. 

He shrugged. “Well, I used to be terrified of drowning. I guess I figured maybe it was like… a ‘Big Three kids’ thing. Being scared of our own elements. And the only way I got over my fear was finding out the bottom of the ocean was my second home.” 

It was half bullshit, half genuine. She seemed skeptical, and furious he’d risked their lives on that one assumption by the  _ colorful  _ words she was spewing, but before she could vivisect him, Grover’s voice called from above, “Hellooooo?” 

“Down here!” Percy shouted. 

A few minutes later, Zoë, Bianca and Grover joined them. They all stood watching the wild boar struggle in the snow. 

“A blessing of the Wild,” Grover said, though he now looked agitated. 

“I agree,” Zoë said. “We must use it.”

“Hold up,” Thalia said irritably. She still looked like she’d just lost a fight with a Christmas tree. “Explain to me why you’re so sure this pig is a blessing.” 

Grover looked over, distracted. “It’s our ride west. Do you have any idea how fast this boar can travel?”

“Fun, like pig cowboys,” Percy commented. 

Grover nodded. “We need to get aboard. I wish… I wish I had more time to look around. But it’s gone now.”

“What’s gone” Grover didn’t seem to hear Bianca ask. He walked over to the boar and jumped onto its back. Already the boar was starting to make some headway through the drift. Once it broke free, there’d be no stopping it. Grover took out his pipes. He started playing a snappy tune and tossed an apple in front of the boar. The apple floated and spun right above the boar’s nose, and the boar went nuts, straining to get it. 

“Automatic steering,” Thalia murmured. “Great.” She trudged over and jumped on behind Grover, which still left plenty of room for the rest of them. 

Zoë and Bianca walked towards the boar. Percy paused just long enough to re-cap his sword before following. This  _ was  _ a blessing after all - he’d never felt such a strong sign of Pan besides actually being in the god’s presence. 

They rode the boar until sunset, which was already more than he cared for. Riding a giant pig was, evidently, much more unpleasant than horse/pegasus riding. The mountains faded into the distance and were replaced by miles of flat dry land, the grass and scrub brush thinning out as they made their way across the desert. As night fell, the boar came to a stop at a creek bed and snorted. He started drinking the muddy water, then ripped a saguaro cactus out of the ground and chewed it, needles and all. 

“This is as far as he’ll go,” Grover said. “We need to get off while he’s eating.” Nobody needed convincing. 

They slipped off the boar’s back while he was busy ripping up cacti. Then the five of them waddled away as best they could with their saddle sores. After its third saguaro and another drink of muddy water, the boar squealed and belched, then whirled round and galloped back towards the east. 

“It likes the mountains better,” Percy guessed. 

“I can’t blame it,” Thalia said. “Look.” 

Ahead was a two-lane road half blown over with sand. On the other side of the road was a cluster of buildings too small to be a town: a boarded-up house, a taco shop that looked like it hadn’t been open since before Zoë Nightshade was born, and a white stucco post office with a sign that said GILA CLAW, ARIZONA hanging crooked above the door. Beyond that was a range of hills…actually, not hills. The ‘hills’ were enormous mounds of old cars, appliances, and other scrap metal. It was a junkyard that seemed to go on forever. Percy fingered what used to be a clover charm around his neck, but didn’t think it was likely it’d give him good luck. 

“Something tells me we’re not going to find a car rental here,” Thalia said. She looked at Grover. “I don’t suppose you got another wild boar up your sleeve?” 

Grover was sniffing the wind, looking nervous. He fished out his acorns and threw them into the sand, then played his pipes. They rearranged themselves in a pattern that made no sense to Percy, but Grover looked concerned. 

“That’s us,” he said. “Those five nuts right there.” 

“Which one is me?” Percy asked. 

“The little deformed one,” Zoë suggested. 

“Oh, real clever.”

“That cluster right there,” Grover said, pointing to the left, “that’s trouble.” 

“A monster?” Thalia asked. 

The satyr looked uneasy. “I don’t smell anything, which doesn’t make sense. But the acorns don’t lie. Our next challenge…” He pointed straight towards the junkyard. With the sunlight almost gone now, the hills of metal looked like something on an alien planet. 

They decided to camp for the night and try the junkyard in the morning. No one wanted to go dump diving in the dark. Zoë and Bianca produced five sleeping bags and foam mattresses out of their backpacks. It was a little unfair they could just enchant their things like that, and the bows just showed up whenever they needed them, but the same could be said for Riptide, probably. Only he needed to be wearing clothes with pockets to summon it. 

The night got chilly fast, so he Grover collected old boards from the ruined house, and Thalia zapped them with an electric shock to start a campfire. Pretty soon they were about as comfy as you can get in a rundown ghost town in the middle of nowhere. 

“The stars are out,” Zoë said. She was right. There were millions of them, with no city lights to turn the sky orange. 

“Amazing,” Bianca said. “I’ve never actually seen the Milky Way.”

“This is nothing,” Zoë said. “In the old days, there were more. Whole constellations have disappeared because of human light pollution.” 

“You should see the oceans,” Percy grumbled, probably sounding way too bitter for casual conversation. “So many creatures die because people can’t find anywhere else to dump their non-biodegradables.” Sure, his senses were a lot less aware of it than his father or other water spirits, since he’d never known the sea before pollution, but it was still unpleasant; felt like someone just walking into your house and dumping their garbage on your floor. 

Grover sighed. He was still looking up at the stars like he was thinking about the light pollution problem. “If only Pan were here, he would set things right.” 

Zoë and Percy nodded - then quickly looked away, ignoring that they were agreeing on something for once. 

“Maybe it was the coffee,” Grover said. “I was drinking coffee, and the wind came. Maybe if I drank more coffee…” 

He didn’t want to discourage his best friend, but he’s fairly certain coffee had nothing to do with this. 

“I don’t think it was the coffee man, i think it was just because we needed help.” 

“After this quest is done, I’m going back to New Mexico and drinking a lot of coffee. It’s the best lead we’ve got in two thousand years. I was so close.” The satyr said, completely ignoring Percy. 

“What I want to know,” Thalia said, looking at Bianca, “is how you destroyed one of the zombies. There are a lot more out there somewhere. We need to figure out how to fight them.” 

Bianca shook her head. ‘I don’t know. I just stabbed it and it went up in flames. I only tried because it came close, and Percy suggested it.” 

Everyone turned to him, then. Dammit. 

“Yeah, you did shout something to her during the fight. How’d you know that would work?” 

Percy thought for a minute, trying to come up with the easiest lie he could. “Uhm… I don’t know. I just had this sorta.. Gut feeling, y’know? Subconsciously I just knew she’d be able to do it.” 

No one seemed satisfied with that answer, but it seemed he had a temporary ally in Zoë Nightshade. 

“Never mind,” she said. “We will find the answer. In the meantime, we should plan our next move. When we get through this junkyard, we must continue west. If we can find a road, we can hitchhike to the nearest city. I think that would be Las Vegas.”

Bianca cut in. “No! Not there!” She looked really freaked out, like she’d just been dropped off the steep end of a roller coaster.

Zoë frowned. “Why?” 

Bianca took a shaky breath.”‘I… I think we stayed there for a while. Nico and I. When we were traveling. And then, I can’t remember…” 

“Bianca,” Percy said, not really liking this subject any more than the subject of her heritage. “That hotel you stayed at. You said it was Lotus something - did you mean the Lotus Hotel and Casino?”

Her eyes widened. “Yes, that was it! But how do you know that?”

He shook his head and looked down at his shoes, to avoid her gaze.

“Wait,” Thalia said. “What is the Lotus Casino?” 

Percy shifted in his seat, and turned the ring on his thumb anxiously. “Hey, Grover?” he asked. 

“Yeah Percy?”

“Remember a few years ago, when we were in Las Vegas, and I called the Gray Sisters to give us a ride?” 

“How could I  _ not  _ remember?” his friend shivered at the thought of the hellride. 

“I… well, we were turning down a street. The one where the Lotus hotel is. I already knew about it, about how it… traps people. Lures them in with the promise of all the best food and games and stuff, so you never want to leave. But the thing is, it accelerates time while you’re inside. Stay an hour, you’ll go outside and find it’s the days later. Stay a few weeks… and you could lose decades.” 

“No,” Bianca said. “No, that’s not possible.” 

“You said somebody came and got you out?”

“Yes.” 

“What did he look like? What did he say? Did you feel like you never ever wanted to leave, but as soon as you were out things were normal again?” 

“I… I don’t remember. Please, I really don’t want to talk about this.”

Zoë sat forward, her eyebrows knitted with concern. “You said that Washington, D.C. had changed when you went back last summer. You didn’t remember the subway being there.”

“Yes, but-”

“Bianca,” Zoë said, “Can you tell me the name of the president of the United States right now?”

“Don’t be silly,” Bianca said. She answered correctly. 

“And who was the president before that?” Zoë asked. 

Bianca thought for a while. “Roosevelt.” 

Zoë swallowed. “Theodore or Franklin?” 

“Franklin.” Bianca said. “F.D.R.” 

“Bianca,” Zoë sounded pained. “F.D.R. was not the last president. That was about seventy years ago.” 

“That’s impossible,” Bianca shook her head. “I… I’m not that old.” She stared at her hands as if to make sure they weren’t wrinkled. Thalia’s eyes turned sad. The daughter of Zeus knew what it was like to get pulled out of time for a while. In a way, Percy did too, but he’d never paid enough attention to detail as an adult for it to be a problem usually. (Except that one time he asked his mom if they could rent ‘The Martian’ for movie night and forgot it wasn’t made until the mid 2010’s.)

“It’s okay, Bianca,” Thalia assured her. “The important thing is you and Nico are safe. You made it out.” 

Before anyone could say anything else, they were hit with a blazing light from down the road. The headlights of a car had appeared out of nowhere. Percy wasn’t optimistic enough to think it might be Apollo. They grabbed their sleeping bags and got out of the way as a deathly white limousine slid to a stop in front of them. The back door of the limo opened right next to him, and before he could step away, the point of a sword touched his throat. From behind, he heard the sound of Zoë and Bianca drawing their bows. 

As the owner of the sword got out of the car, Percy moved back slowly as the point of the weapon pressed into his neck. The war god smiled cruelly. 

“Not so fast now, are you, punk?” He looked like a big man with a crew cut, a black leather biker’s jacket, black jeans, a skin-tight white vest and combat boots. Wraparound shades hid his eyes, but Percy knew they hid flaming sockets underneath. The godly eyes that could inspire unimaginable rage in others. 

“Ares,” Percy greeted with no particular inflection to his voice.

The war god glanced at the other members of their group. “At ease, people.” 

He snapped his fingers, and their weapons fell to the ground. 

“This is a friendly meeting.” He dug the point of his blade a little further under Percy’s chin. “Of course I’d like to take your head for a trophy, but someone wants to see you. And I never behead my enemies in front of a lady.”

“‘What lady?” Thalia asked. 

Ares looked over at her. “Well, well. I heard you were back.” 

He lowered his sword and pushed Percy away. “Thalia, daughter of Zeus,” Ares mused. “You’re not hanging out with very good company.”

“What’s your business, Ares?” she demanded. “Who’s in the car?”

Ares smiled, enjoying the attention. “Oh, I doubt she wants to meet the rest of you. Particularly not them.” He jutted his chin towards Zoë and Bianca. “Why don’t you all go get some tacos while you wait? Only take Percy a few minutes.”

“We will not leave him alone with thee, Lord Ares,” Zoë said.

“Besides,” Grover managed, “the taco place is closed.”

Ares snapped his fingers again. The lights inside the taqueria suddenly blazed to life. The boards flew off the door and the CLOSED sign flipped to OPEN. “You were saying, goat boy?”

“It’s fine, guys,” Percy tried to reassure them. “I’ve kicked his ass once, I can do it again if I need to.” The god didn’t look happy about that statement at all, but carefully ignored it. Probably because Aphrodite was in the car with him.

“You heard the boy,” Ares said. “He’s big and strong. He’s got things under control.”

His friends reluctantly headed over to the taco restaurant. Ares regarded him with loathing then opened the limousine door like a chauffeur. “Get inside, punk,’ he said. “And mind your manners. She’s not as forgiving of rudeness as I am.”

Now, Percy had seen Aphrodite a few times. The goddess of love always appeared to be what was most aesthetically pleasing to the person looking at her - it didn’t matter what your preferences were, she was just beautiful. Designed to be the most beautiful person you’d ever seen. Perfect hair, eyes, face, everything. 

Which was why he was not particularly surprised to see curly blond hair, stormy grey eyes, and lightly tanned skin under a red satin dress. She looked kinda like an older Annabeth, if wise girl wanted to be an actress or model. Well, he knew his tastes at least, nothing to be embarrassed about. 

The goddess smiled as he stepped into the car. “Ah, there you are, Percy,” she said. “I am Aphrodite.” 

Percy nodded respectfully - Aphrodite was a meddler but not without good intentions. She just wanted everyone to experience love to it;s fullest, because that’s what made her happy; she just didn’t understand that not everyone wanted the same thing. Besides, the love magic was making him dizzy and he didn’t trust himself to form full sentences. 

“Aren’t you sweet. Hold this, please.” She handed him a polished mirror the size of a dinner plate and had him hold it up for her. She leaned forward and dabbed at her lipstick, though there wasn’t anything wrong with it. 

“Do you know why you’re here?” she asked. 

“...Like why am I in the car? Because your boyfriend pointed a sword to my throat.” 

The goddess gave him a look and said, “Why are you on this quest, dear?” 

He probably should’ve said something like ‘Artemis was taken!’ or ‘there’s a horrible monster on the loose, we have to stop it!’ but that wasn’t what Aphrodite wanted to hear. And it wasn’t entirely true, either. If Annabeth hadn’t been taken, he would be more than happy to let another person take his place to save Artemis. 

“Annabeth’s gone. I have to find her.” 

Aphrodite smiled made him hold the mirror a little higher; seems there was some microscopic issue with her mascara.

“Yes, dear Percy, that is exactly it! You’re friends are all on some goose chase for  _ Artemis,  _ but you. You’re pursuing something  _ much  _ more important.”

Percy nodded carefully. “But I can’t yet. I mean, I’m gonna save her, but… there’s so much going on in her life right now.” 

“And that’s exactly why she needs a nice young man like you in her life! I mean, can you  _ believe  _ that silly Huntress tried to take Annabeth away from you?” 

He gripped the mirror a little tighter, and readjusted his grip. “She’d never join them. That’s not… there’s too much she’d be leaving behind.”  _ Me, Grover, her dad. Luke.  _

“Percy, you shouldn’t waste this opportunity! Trust me, I’m on your side. I’m the reason you’re here, after all.”

“Yeah?”

“The poisoned T-shirt the Stoll brothers gave Phoebe,” she said. “Did you think that was an accident? Sending Blackjack to find you? Helping you sneak out of the camp?”

“You did that?” he’d genuinely forgotten that that’d all been her, actually. 

“Of course! Because, really, how boring these Hunters are! A quest for some monster, blah blah blah. Saving Artemis. Let her stay lost, I say. But a quest for true love-”

“Well, I didn’t exactly say-”

“Oh, my dear. You don’t need to say it. You do know Annabeth was close to joining the Hunters, don’t you? She was about to throw her life away! And you, my dear, you can save her from that. It’s so romantic!”

“I don’t know if letting her fall off a cliff and get kidnapped is really romantic.”

“Oh, put the mirror down,” Aphrodite ordered. “I look fine.”

He set it down, arms a bit sore. How heavy did a mirror have to be, seriously? 

“Now listen, Percy,” Aphrodite said. “Don’t get too caught up in the details. You just work on saving Annabeth, okay? It’s been _ ages _ since we’ve had a good tragic love story.”

“Who said anything about tragic?” If he could help it, this would be a perfectly  _ happy  _ love story thank you very much.

“Love conquers all,” the goddess promised. “Look at Helen and Paris. Did they let anything come between them?”

“They started the Trojan War and got thousands of people killed.”

“Pfft. That’s not the point. Follow your heart.” 

He just nodded. Percy was still having conflicted feelings about asking Annabeth out - he really wanted to, but… he’d lived almost thirty years now, and regardless of whether or not that was his fault, it still made things awkward. Even if she didn’t know yet. 

“And don’t worry,” Aphrodite said. “I’m not going let this be easy and boring for you. No, I have some wonderful surprises in store. Anguish. Indecision. Oh, you just wait.”

“That’s really okay,” he insisted. “Don’t go to any trouble.”

“You’re so cute. I wish all my daughters could break the heart of a boy as nice as you.” Her eyes were tearing up. “Now, you’d better go. And do be careful in my husband’s territory, Percy. Don’t take anything. He is awfully fussy about his trinkets and trash.”

Fair advice. Taking a god’s things was never advisable, especially for someone as clever and crazy as Hephestus. Before he could reply, though, Ares grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him out of the car and back into the desert night. 

“You’re lucky, punk.” The god pushed Percy away from the limo. “Be grateful.”

“For what?” Useless advice and prying into his love life?

“That we’re being so nice. If it was up to me-”

“So why haven’t you killed me already?”

Ares nodded, like he’d finally said something intelligent. “I’d love to kill you, seriously,” he said. “But, see, I got a situation. Word on Olympus is that you might start the biggest war in history. I can’t risk messing that up. Besides, Aphrodite thinks you’re some kinda soap-opera star or something. I kill you, that makes me look bad with her. But don’t worry. I haven’t forgotten my promise. Some day soon, kid – real soon – you’re going to raise your sword to fight, and you’re going to remember the wrath of Ares.” 

“Sure you don’t wanna go for round two now? How’s the ankle hold up these days?”

He grinned crookedly. “Not bad, punk. But you got nothing on the master of taunts. I’ll start the fight when I’m good and ready. Until then… Get lost.” He snapped his fingers and the world did a three-sixty, spinning in a cloud of red dust. The road, the taco restaurant, the whole town of Gila Claw was gone. Percy and his friends were standing in the middle of the junkyard, mountains of scrap metal stretched out in every direction.

Well, not the highest place on his list of travel locations, but it looked like they had no choice. 


	11. Sacrifice

“What did she  _ want _ with you?” Bianca asked, once he'd told them about Aphrodite.

“Oh, you know. She said not to take anything from the junkyard. Hephestus can be really territorial about his stuff.” 

Zoë narrowed her eyes. “The goddess of love would not make a special trip to tell thee that. Be careful, Percy. Aphrodite has led many heroes astray.’

“For once, I agree with Zoë,” Thalia said. “You can’t trust Aphrodite.”

Grover was looking at him funny. Being empathic and all, he could usually read Percy’s emotions, and he had told the satyr about his plans to date Annabeth a while back. 

“So,” he said, trying to change subjects, “how do we get out of here?”

“That way,” Zoë said, pointing. “That is west.”

“How can you tell?”

In the light of the full moon, he was a little surprised how well he could see her roll her eyes. “Ursa Major is in the north,” she said, “which means that must be west.” She pointed again, then at the northern constellation, which was hard to make out because there were so many other stars. 

“Guys,” Grover broke in. “Look!” They’d reached the crest of a junk mountain. Piles of metal objects glinted in the moonlight: broken heads of bronze horses, metal legs from human statues, smashed chariots, tons of shields and swords and other weapons, along with more modern stuff, like cars that gleamed gold and silver, refrigerators, washing machines and computer monitors. 

“Whoa,” Bianca said. “That stuff… some of it looks like real gold.”

“It is,” Thalia said grimly. “Like Percy said, don’t touch anything. This is the junkyard of the gods.”

“Junk?” Grover picked up a beautiful crown made of gold, silver and jewels. It was broken on one side, as if it had been split by an ax. “You call this junk?” He bit off a point and began to chew. “It’s delicious!”

Thalia swatted the crown out of his hands. “I’m serious!”

“Look”’ Bianca said. She raced down the hill, tripping over bronze coils and golden plates. She picked up a bow that glowed silver in moonlight. “A Hunter’s bow!” She yelped in surprise as the bow began to shrink, and became a hair clip shaped like a crescent moon. “It’s just like Percy’s sword!” 

Zoë’s face was grim. “Leave it, Bianca.” 

“But-” 

“It is here for a reason. Anything thrown away in this junkyard must stay in this yard. It is defective. Or cursed.” Bianca reluctantly set the hair clip down. 

“I don’t like this place,” Thalia said. She gripped the shaft of her spear. “Let’s just get across the yard.’ 

They started picking their way through the hills and valleys of junk. The stuff seemed to go on forever, and if it hadn’t been for Ursa Major, they would’ve gotten lost; all the hills pretty much looked the same. He knew it was dumb to mess with the stuff here, but he knew it’d be pretty much impossible to make sure no one else touched anything, so he let them be. As long as no one took anything out of the place… 

Grover found a broken tree made out of metal. It had been chopped to pieces, but some of the branches still had golden birds in them, and they whirred around when Grover picked them up, trying to flap their wings. Bianca found a little wind-up toy that looked like a chihuahua and started it up, but it didn't do much but walk around and bark. Finally, they saw the edge of the junkyard about half a mile ahead, the lights of a highway stretching through the desert. But between them and the road…

“What is that?” Bianca gasped. Ahead of them was a hill much bigger and longer than the others. It was like a metal mesa, the length of a football field and as tall as goalposts. At one end of the mesa was a row of ten thick metal columns, wedged tightly together. Percy tugged on the chord of his camp necklace, looking away. 

Bianca frowned. “They look like-”

“Toes,” Grover said. 

Bianca nodded. “Really, really large toes.”

Zoë and Thalia exchanged nervous looks. 

“Let’s go around,” Thalia said. “Far around.”

“But the road is right over there, quicker to climb over.” Percy was anxious to get out of here as soon as possible, and the thing wouldn’t wake up if no one took anything. Something in the back of his mind said it was a bad idea, but the longer they stayed the bigger chance something would go wrong. 

_ Ping. _ Thalia hefted her spear and Zoë drew her bow, but t it was only Grover. He had thrown a piece of scrap metal at the toes and hit one, making a deep echo, as if the column were hollow. 

“Why did you do that?” Zoë demanded. 

Grover cringed. “I don’t know. I, uh, don’t like fake feet?”

“Come on.” Thalia looked at Percy. “Around.” 

He decided not to argue. After several minutes of walking, they finally stepped onto the highway, an abandoned but well-lit stretch of black tarmac. 

“We made it out,” Zoë said. “Thank the gods.” 

But at that moment they heard a sound like a thousand trash compactors crushing metal. He whirled around. Behind them, the scrap mountain was boiling, rising up. The ten toes tilted over, and the thing that rose up from the metal was a familiar bronze giant - in full Greek battle armor. It was a skyscraper with arms and legs, metal glinting menacingly in the moonlight. He looked down at them, and his face was deformed; the left side was partially melted off. His joints creaked with rust, and across his armored chest, written in thick dust by some giant finger, were the words WASH ME. 

“Talos!” Zoë gasped. 

Thalia nodded. “But that can’t be the original. It’s too small. A prototype, maybe. A defective model.”

The metal giant didn’t like the word defective. He moved one hand to his sword belt and drew his weapon. The sound of it coming out of its sheath was horrible, metal screeching against metal. The blade was thirty meters long, easy. It looked rusty and dull, but that didn’t really matter in this context. 

“Someone took something,” Zoë said. “Who took something?” She stared accusingly at Percy.

“No way. Check my pockets if you want, I’m clean.” 

Bianca didn’t say anything, and Percy cursed internally as he remembered a small figurine. But there wasn’t time to talk, as Talos took one step towards them closing half the distance and making the ground shake. 

“Run!” Grover yelped. Great advice, if the thing chasing them couldn’t walk miles in a few steps. 

The five of them split up, the way they’d done with the Nemean Lion. Thalia drew her shield and held it up as she ran down the highway. The giant swung his sword and took out a row of power lines, which exploded in sparks and scattered across Thalia’s path. Zoë’s arrows whistled towards the creature’s face but shattered harmlessly against the metal. Grover brayed like a baby goat and went climbing up a mountain of metal. 

He and Bianca ended up next to each other, hiding behind a broken chariot. 

“You took something,” Percy said. “Just give it back to the yard.” 

“No!” she said, but her voice was quivering. 

“Just give it back, before we all die!”

“I… I didn’t take anything! Besides, it’s too late.”

Before he could say anything else, he heard a massive creaking noise, and a shadow blotted out the sky. 

"Move!” He tore down the hill, with Bianca right behind as the giant’s foot smashed a crater in the ground where they’d been hiding. 

“Hey, Talos!” Grover yelled, but the monster raised his sword, looking down at Percy and Bianca. Grover played a quick melody on his pipes. Over at the highway, the downed power lines began to dance. One of the poles with power lines still attached flew towards Talos’s back leg and wrapped around his calf. The lines sparked and sent a jolt of electricity up the giant’s backside. Talos whirled around, creaking and sparking. Grover had bought a few seconds. 

“Come on!” he told Bianca, but she stayed frozen. From her pocket, she brought out a small metal figurine, a statue of a god. “It… it was for Nico. It was the only statue he didn’t have.”

“Just throw it down, maybe it’ll leave us alone!” 

There were tears in her eyes, but she dropped it reluctantly. Nothing happened. The giant kept coming after Grover. It stabbed its sword into a junk hill, missing Grover by a metre or so, but scrap metal made an avalanche over him, and then Percy couldn’t see him anymore. 

“No!” Thalia yelled. She pointed her spear, and a blue arc of lightning shot out, hitting the monster in his rusty knee, which buckled. The giant collapsed, but immediately started to rise again. It was hard to tell if it could feel anything. He raised his foot to stomp and Percy saw that his sole was treaded like the bottom of a trainer. There was a hole in his heel, like a large manhole, and there were red words painted around it, which took a second to decipher: FOR MAINTENANCE ONLY. 

“I have an idea,” Percy said,

Bianca looked at him nervously. “Anything.” 

He told her about the maintenance hatch. “I’m going to go inside and smash some things. Make it stop working.”

“How? You’ll have to stand under its foot! You’ll be crushed.”

“Distract it,” he said. “I’ll just have to time it right.”

Bianca’s jaw tightened. “No. I’ll go.”

“You can’t. Please, I’ve got this.”

“It’s my fault the monster came after us,” she said. “It’s my responsibility.”

Percy shook his head, vehemently denying her request. “Please, I promised Nico I’d bring you back safe. Don’t make me a liar.” 

Bianca seemed to deliberate for a minute, before nodding reluctantly. “Don’t die.” 

“Wasn’t planning on it,’ he said, picking the figurine and pressing it into her hands. ”Give this to Nico, I bet he misses you already.”

With that, he ran at Talos. There was a way to carefully dodge the giant’s feet if you paid attention to when one lifted and the other went down, and soon enough he was at the foot with the emergency hatch.

Zoë yelled, “What are you doing?” 

“Something really stupid!” He called back. 

Raising Riptide, he stabbed the giant’s foot. It worked well enough. Talos raised his foot to crush him, but Percy had already grabbed onto one of the toes and made his way to the hatch. He was barely inside when the foot smashed into the ground, and he’d almost had his leg crushed between celestial bronze and gravel. 

It was stuffy inside, and Percy was thrown against a wall with every movement. Ignoring the many bruises he’d have later, he made his way up the ladder that seemed to go from the ankle to the main body. There were all sorts of buttons and wires, but there wasn’t time to figure that out. Suddenly the giant began moving much more violently, like he was dancing. Shaking his head, Percy slashed randomly at bits and pieces. After a minute or two, everything shuddered to a halt, and then Talos began to teeter and fall. 

At least, he thinks that’s what happened. Everything after that is a blur of making his way back down the ladder, discarding riptide in the rush. The sword would return to him in pen form eventually anyway. There was an explosion of pain in his left arm, and then darkness.

There was a loud ringing in his ears, with a few voices breaking through it occasionally. Shouting. Hands moving him. Sunlight in his face, making the darkness behind his eyelids lighter. He was sore everywhere, and his arm _ burned.  _

He’s pretty sure he screamed at some point. It burned, and there was a sharp, awful pain again before he was unconscious. 

Percy has no idea how much time passed. There was some more moving, at some point, and the world was darker. There was more movement, some rumbling and bumping like they were in a car. Or, by the feeling of metal below his back, a van. There was more speaking, and he thinks maybe it was Grover. His friend was asking him to wake up, to get better. The tingly feeling of a healing salve spread around his elbow. Strangely, he couldn’t feel anything beyond that. It’s like his hand and forearm were totally cut off from him - numb. Percy tried not to dwell on it. 

When he first opened his eyes, he saw that they were, indeed, inside a van. Thalia was driving, Bianca and Grover were hovering over him. Zoë was trying to look like she wasn’t watching him intently, and switched places with Thalia in the driver’s seat so that the daughter of Zeus could come see him. 

He had a hard time figuring out what they were saying. Bianca was crying, Grover was pale. Thalia seemed angry, but whether it was directed at him was impossible to tell. He shut his eyes again, and rested for a time.

The next time he woke up, things felt clearer. The sun was low in the sky, but he wasn’t sure if it was rising or setting. He felt like he’d been hit by a bus, and sat up carefully. Grover was there, and tried to make him lie down, but he couldn’t. Not yet. He needed to know what was going on. The others were outside, talking - or more like arguing, by the tone of their hushed voices. 

Getting an idea of his surroundings, Percy saw they were by a canyon with a river below. The road seemed to dead-end ahead of them, and from the voices outside it seemed they were out of gas. Out of habit, he reached to twist the ring around his thumb, and - 

And met thin air. He’d been aiming for where he thought his left hand had to be, since he couldn’t feel it, but looking down he saw… nothing. It wasn’t there. His elbow was wrapped heavily, and from the feeling there were probably stitches beneath them. The taste of ambrosia linered on his tongue. 

“Wha-” he coughed, doubling over where he sat. Grover passed him a bottle of water, and helped him drink a few sips. “What… happened?” 

“Percy, I-” suddenly the voices outside halted. Zoë, Thalia and Bianca all came into view of the opened back of the van. 

“Percy!” Bianca cried, rushing over. Thalia and even Zoë followed suit, sitting carefully around him. “Are you alright? How are you feeling?” 

“Like shit,” he said honestly, “But I’ll live.” Well, that still felt like a maybe, but he smiled light and tried to seem strong. He hadn’t fully processed it all just yet. 

“What were you thinking, idiot!” Thalia demanded. “You could’ve been killed.” 

“Thalia, please,” Grover tried to calm things down. “Don’t shout so much. He needs to rest.”

Absently, Percy rested his hand on the stump where the rest of his left arm used to be. It seemed to have been treated well, since he didn’t feel a fever or anything, and the pain was manageable. A clean slice right below the elbow. 

“‘Something great is lost in the land without rain’,” he murmured.

Everyone was silent, then. Honestly, Percy wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting. He’d convinced himself anything was better than losing Bianca, (and he still stood by that, people weren’t replaceable, parts of one are) but this was… well he wasn’t sure how to feel. Not angry. Not sad. Just sorta… numb. He didn’t feel anything about this, or maybe he just felt too much to discern any specific emotion. 

“What time is it?” he finally asked. 

“About six in the morning. We thought about exploring the canyon, but…”  _ but none of us wanted to leave you here,  _ was left unsaid. 

Zoë suddenly pulled something out of her pocket, and held it out to Percy. It was his ring - the celestial bronze one. 

“I retrieved this for thee. I was… unable to recover the other trinkets of yours, they could not be removed from-”

Thalia hissed something into her ear, and Zoë stopped talking. Gently, he took it from her hands. It seemed a little worse for wear, some nicks in the metal, but was otherwise fine. If this ring was banged up, he could imagine the cheaper silver rings wouldn’t have made it - definitely not the leather and plastic charm bracelets. 

“What happened, exactly?”

They all looked between each other, like a non-verbal rock-paper-scissors to choose who had to speak. 

“Well, after you’d gone inside, Grover did something with his reed pipes and made the giant do the chicken dance,” Bianca began. “But then it just stopped moving, and fell over. That was probably you breaking it inside.” 

He nodded, letting her continue. 

“We searched for you in the rubble for an hour, and when we found you…” 

“You were in pretty bad shape,” Grover picked back up. “The Nemean lion’s pelt protected you from a lot, I think, but your arm… it was totally crushed. We couldn’t… we couldn’t save it. I’m so sorry, Percy.” 

It was quiet again for a while. Percy’s thoughts drifted to Will Solace and the Hephestus cabin. After the war, there’d been a few who’d lost parts. The Apollo kids, led by Will, had worked with the Hephestus cabin (mainly Leo) to make some pretty cool prosthetics. He remembered a girl who lost almost her entire right leg, with a fully-functioning celestial bronze and imperial gold leg, with a dragon engraved like a tattoo on the calf. Maybe he wouldn’t be totally helpless in the long run, but… 

What was he supposed to do for the rest of this quest? He fought right-handed, but he’d be off-balance if they got into any fights. Not to mention he still felt like he could sleep for a year and still be tired, right now. 

Percy slipped the ring into the same pocket where he kept Riptide, and spoke: “Look, guys I… I know I’m kind of a liability right now. But we still have a quest to do. If you’ll have me, I’d like to see this through.” 

The son of Poseidon might have laughed at the overlapping chorus of yeses. It was nice to have friends as bull-headed and determined as himself, sometimes. 

They all decided to rest for another hour or two, (for all their benefits, no one had slept much that night) before setting out to walk along the canyon. There were a few goat-paths, but they were too steep to go down between Thalia’s fear of heights and Percy’s condition, so they kept walking. About a half mile from their abandoned van, they came to an easier slope that led down the water. Percy tried not to feel weird about the guilty look on Bianca’s face as she helped him down, and decided to let her help if it made her feel better about this. Honestly, he’d take this over her death a million times over. 

On the shore was a canoe rental operation that was closed for the season, but they left a little sack of drachmas and a note saying ‘I.O.U. two canoes.’ 

“We need to go upstream,” Zoë said. It was the first time she’d spoken since leaving the van, and he was a bit worried for her. “The rapids are too swift.”

“Leave that to me,” Percy said. They put the canoes in the water, and he reached out to the water a little before they got in. 

Thalia pulled him aside as they were getting out the oars. “Can you really…” She nodded to the rapids. “You know.” 

“Yeah. Freshwater’s a little different from salt, but I can make it work.” 

“Alright,” she said. “Just, let me know if-”

“I’ll be fine, Thalia. Honestly, the water’s probably the best place for me to be right now.”

She nodded, and turned to help Grover get their canoe into the water. Percy would be squished between Thalia and Grover, and Bianca and Zoë would ride together behind them. 

As it turned out, he didn’t even need to control the currents; there were a couple of Naiads giggling below them, watching him intently. It was for the best, he could barely keep his eyes open. Asking the Naiads for their help was no trouble at all, and as soon as he’d said where they were going, the girls were pushing them along. They started so fast Grover fell into the canoe with his hooves sticking up in the air. 

“I hate naiads,” Zoë grumbled. A stream of water squirted up from the back of the boat and hit her in the face. “She-devils!” Zoë went for her bow. 

“Whoa!” he called to the Hunter. “They’re just playing!”

“Cursed water spirits. They’ve never forgiven me.” Bianca put a hand on her shoulder, either to hold her back or provide comfort, he had no idea. Zoë slung her bow back over her shoulder.

They sped up the river, the cliffs looming up on either side of them; soon cliffs were getting taller. Long shadows fell across the water, making it a lot colder, even though the day was bright.closing his eyes for what he promised himself would only be a few minutes, Percy leaned back against Grover. His friend said nothing, holding him up as they moved along. 

_ Gurgle, gurgle _ , the naiad spoke in his mind, jerking him awake. The canoe was slowing down. Looking ahead, he saw why; this was as far as they could go, the river was blocked by a dam the size of a football stadium.

‘“Hoover Dam,” Thalia said. “It’s huge.” 

Bianca looked really excited, too, saying something about how she and Nico had always wanted to go as kids but never got the chance. They all stood at the river’s edge, looking up at a curve of concrete that loomed between the cliffs. People were walking along the top of the dam; they were so tiny they looked like fleas. The naiads had left with a lot of grumbling - not in words, exactly, but he could tell they really didn’t appreciate this huge dam cutting off their river. The canoes floated back downstream, swirling in the wake from the dam’s discharge vents. 

“Over two hundred meters tall,” Percy said. “Built in the 1930s.” 

“Five million cubic acres of water,” Thalia continued. 

Grover sighed. “Largest construction project in the United States.” 

Zoë gave them a weird look, and Bianca asked, “How do you know all that?”

“Annabeth,” Percy said. “She liked architecture.” 

“She was nuts about monuments,” Thalia nodded. 

“Spouted facts all the time.” Grover sniffled. “So annoying.” 

“I wish she were here.” The others nodded. 

Zoë was still looking at them strangely, but Bianca just looked sad for them. 

“We should go up there, so we can tell her about it,” the son of Poseidon insisted.

“You are mad,” Zoë decided. “But that’s where the road is.” She pointed to a huge parking garage next to the top of the dam. “And so sightseeing it is.” 


	12. Another dam chapter

They had to walk for almost an hour before finding a path that led up to the road; it came up on the east side of the river. Then they straggled back towards the dam. It was cold and windy on top. On one side, a big lake spread out, ringed by barren desert mountains. On the other side, the dam dropped away like the world’s most dangerous skateboard ramp, down to the river more than two hundred meters below, and water that churned from the dam’s vents. 

Thalia walked in the middle of the road, far away from the edges. Grover kept sniffing the wind and looking nervous. He didn’t say anything, but Percy knew he smelled monsters. 

“How close are they?” Percy asked, when they’d stopped walking for a minute to catch their breaths. (Mostly for his own sake.). 

Grover shook his head. “Maybe not close. The wind on the dam, the desert all around us… the scent can probably carry for miles. But it’s coming from several directions. I don’t like that.”

Even just the idea of fighting the skeleton warriors again was exhausting, and Percy was glad for the distraction when Thalia slowed down to talk to them. 

“There’s a snack bar in the visitor center,” she said. 

“You’ve been here before?” he asked. 

“Once. To see the guardians.” She pointed to the far end of the dam. Carved into the side of the cliff was a little plaza with two big bronze statues. They looked kind of like Oscar statues with wings. “They were dedicated to Zeus when the dam was built,” Thalia said. “A gift from Athena.” 

Tourists were clustered all around them. They seemed to be looking at the statues’ feet. Percy recalled something about people rubbing the toes for good luck. Mortals wouldn’t know they were dedicated to Zeus or anything, but subconsciously they probably sensed something special about the statues. 

“Let us find the dam snack bar,” Zoë said. “We should eat while we can.”

Grover cracked a smile. “The  _ dam _ snack bar?”

Zoë blinked. “Yes. What is funny?”

“Nothing,” Grover said, trying to keep a straight face. “I could use some  _ dam  _ French fries.” 

Even Thalia smiled at that. “And I need to use the  _ dam _ restroom.” 

Bianca seemed confused for a moment, before Thalia whispered something to her, and the Hunter said: “Oh! Yeah, I wonder if they have any  _ dam _ mugs!” she giggled. 

The four of them cracked up laughing, while Zoë just stared at them blankly. “I do not understand.” 

“I want to use the  _ dam _ water fountain,” Grover said. 

“And…” Thalia tried to catch her breath. “I want to buy a  _ dam _ T-shirt.” 

Percy would have laughed all day if it didn’t make all of his bruises feel awful, and he didn’t catch the faint ‘Moooo,’ nearby. He might have passed it off for going insane of blood loss, if Grover didn’t start looking around too.

“Did I just hear a cow?”

“A  _ dam _ cow?” Thalia laughed. 

“No,” Grover said. “I’m serious.” 

Zoë listened. “I hear nothing.” 

“Me either,” Bianca turned left and right, like a cow might just appear in front of her. 

Thalia was looking at him. “Percy, are you okay?” 

“Yeah… yeah, I’m fine. Just gotta catch my breath. Uh, you guys go ahead. See if they have any orange juice.” Annabeth had always given him orange juice when they did that blood-drive thing in highschool...

They hesitated, but he must’ve looked like he  _ wouldn’t _ collapse the second they left, because they all reluctantly turned to go. As soon as they were gone, he jogged to the north edge of the dam and looked over. 

‘Moo.’ The Opheotaurus was about ten metres below in the lake, but Percy could see him clearly: his little friend from Long Island Sound, Bessie the cow serpent. Looking around, Percy saw there were groups of kids running along the dam, a lot of senior citizens, and some families. But nobody seemed to be paying Bessie any attention yet. 

“Hey, buddy, give us a little while, got some stuff to take care of up here but then we can visit, okay?”

‘Moo!’ His voice was urgent, like he was trying to warn Percy of something, but they couldn’t go anywhere just yet. After a little more fruitless insistence, Bessie turned and dove back under the water. 

As he watched the Opheotaurus leave, something told him to look back. There, along the dam road to the east, two men were walking slowly towards him. They wore grey camouflage outfits that flickered over skeletal bodies. They passed through a group of kids and pushed them aside. A kid yelled, “Hey!” One of the warriors turned, his face changing momentarily into a skull. “Ah!” the kid yelled, and his whole group backed away. 

Percy ran for the visitor center, and was almost at the stairs when he heard tyres squeal. On the west side of the dam, a black van swerved to a stop in the middle of the road, nearly ploughing into some old people. The van doors opened and more skeleton warriors piled out. He was surrounded. He bolted down the stairs and through the museum entrance, not slowing down even as the security guard at the metal-detector yelled, “Hey, kid!”

Where  _ was  _ everyone? Where had his friends gone in all of the five minutes he was distracted?

“Stop!” The metal detector guy yelled. There was no place to go but into an elevator with the tour group. He ducked inside just as the door closed. 

“We’ll be going down two hundred and twenty-two metres,” the tour guide said cheerfully. She was a park ranger, with long black hair pulled back in a ponytail and tinted glasses. “Don’t worry, ladies and gentlemen, the elevator hardly ever breaks.”

“Does this go to the snack bar?” he asked. It was hard to remember much of the layout of this place. A few people behind him chuckled. The tour guide looked at me - something in her gaze was icy, but not cruel. It reminded him of someone.

“To the turbines, young man,” the lady said. “Weren’t you listening to my fascinating presentation upstairs?” 

“Oh, uh, sure. Is there another way out of the dam?” 

“It’s a dead end,” a tourist behind me said. “For heaven’s sake. The only way out is the other elevator.” A few of the other passengers glared at that guy, but Percy wasn’t really sure why. 

The doors opened. “Go right ahead, folks,” the tour guide told them. “Another ranger is waiting for you at the end of the corridor.” 

There wasn’t much of a choice for him but to go with the group. “And, young man” the tour guide called. He looked back. She’d taken off her glasses. Her eyes were startlingly grey, like storm clouds. “There is always a way out for those clever enough to find it.” The doors closed with the tour guide still inside, leaving him alone. 

Before Percy could think about that too much, a ding came from round the corner. The second elevator was opening, and he heard an unmistakable sound – the clattering of skeleton teeth. He ran after the tour group, through a tunnel carved out of solid rock. It seemed to go on forever. The walls were moist, and the air hummed with electricity and the roar of water. 

Finally, he came out on a U Shaped balcony that overlooked a huge warehouse area. Fifteen metres below, enormous turbines were running. It was a big room, but there didn’t seem to be any other exit, unless he wanted to jump into the turbines and get churned up to make electricity. 

Slowing down to take some deep breaths, Percy tried to relax. He was practically running on empty, and he must’ve looked awful. Some part of him was grateful that he’d taken the lion-pelt jacket along, because while it was still easy to tell he was missing an arm, it covered the bandages. That’d mean less questions, hopefully.

Another tour guide was talking over the microphone, telling the tourists about water supplies in Nevada. Working his way around the crowd, he tried not to worry too much about the others - they were probably fine. There was a hallway at the other side of the balcony – maybe some place he could hide and try to remember where to go from here. 

By the time he got to the opposite side of the balcony, he felt ready to drop, and backed into the little hallway and watched the tunnel he’d come from. From behind, he heard a weird sound and spun around hastily. Thankfully, it was just a girl blowing her nose. 

Wait, not just a girl. She had green eyes, frizzy reddish-brown hair, and wore a big maroon Harvard sweatshirt and jeans that were covered with marker stains and little holes, like she spent her free time poking them with a fork. Her nose was red, so she was either sick or had allergies. Rachel Elizabeth Dare.

“Whoa, where’s the fire?” she asked, giving him a look. 

“I, uh-” 

“And you look terrible, by the way. Wait, what is that you’re wearing? Is that made of lion fur?” She asked so many questions so fast, it was like she was throwing rocks at him, and he couldn’t think of any good answers. If he was stupid enough to think it’d work, he’d use the Mist on her ot something, but unfortunately she was one of the only mortals he knew that could see through it. 

Suddenly, he felt his legs give out and he slumped against the wall as he went down. She paused her rapid-fire questions to crouch down and look at him. 

“Hey, you’re not gonna die, right? Were you shot or something? Poisoned?”

Percy laughed, glancing back down the hallway. They had a minute, probably. “I’m fine, just been a long day,” he said, holding up what was left of his left arm. “Name’s Percy Jackson, nice to meet you.”

“Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Are you saying you lost that  _ today,  _ and you’re just… walking around the Hoover Dam?”

“Told you, long day. And I’m kinda in a hurry. And in trouble.” 

She looked down the hall where he;d been glancing every few seconds, and her eyes widened. “Bathroom!” 

“What?” 

“Bathroom! Behind me! Now!” 

He didn’t argue, letting her haul him up and shove him into the boy’s bathroom. Rachel was left standing outside, but he knew the skeletons wouldn’t go after her. Moments later, Percy heard the clattering, hissing sounds of skeletons as they came closer. Reflexively, he reached for Riptide in his pocket, uncapping it with his teeth. The weight was comfortable in his hand, but he’d been right in thinking he’d be off-balanced. 

Outside, Rachel Elizabeth Dare started talking in that rapid-fire machine gun way of hers. “Oh my god! Did you see that kid? He was running around with a lion skin around his shoulders, looked like he’d seen a ghost. I think he’s being chased or something, maybe he’s on drugs. I mean, jeez, you let a druggie teeneger run around a national monument? He ran that way towards those turbine thingies. I think he went over the side or something. Maybe he fell.” 

The skeletons clattered excitedly, and he heard them moving off. Rachel opened the door. 

“All clear. But you’d better hurry.” She looked shaken. Her face was grey and sweaty. Peeking around the corner, he saw three skeleton warriors were running towards the other end of the balcony. The way to the elevator was clear for a few seconds. 

“I owe you one, Rachel Elizabeth Dare.” 

“What are those things?” she asked. ‘They looked like-” 

“Skeletons?” 

She nodded uneasily.

“That’s cause they are, and they’re after me and my friends. Listen, don’t worry about it, they won’t hurt any mortals like you.” She noticed the sword in his hand just as he turned to leave, and started firing off more questions, but he ignored them all as the skeletons turned around towards him. He bolted for the exit, hoping she wouldn’t get into too much trouble for now. 

The café was packed with kids enjoying the best part of the tour – the dam lunch. Thalia, Zoë and Grover were just sitting down with their food. 

“We need to leave,” he gasped. “Now!”

“But we just got our burritos!” Thalia said. 

Zoë stood up, muttering an Ancient Greek curse, starling Bianca next to her. “He’s right! Look.” 

The café windows wrapped all the way round the observation floor, which gave them a beautiful panoramic view of the skeletal army that had come to kill them. He counted two on the east side of the dam road, blocking the way to Arizona. Three more on the west side, guarding Nevada. All of them were armed with batons and pistols. 

But their immediate problem was a lot closer. The three skeleton warriors who’d been chasing Percy in the turbine room now appeared on the stairs. They saw him from across the cafeteria and clattered their teeth. 

“Elevator!” Grover said. The five of them bolted in that direction, but the doors opened with a pleasant ding, and three more warriors stepped out. Every warrior was accounted for, minus the one Bianca had blasted to flames in New Mexico. They were completely surrounded. 

Then Grover had a brilliant, totally Grover-like idea. “Burrito fight!” he yelled, and flung his Guacamole Grande at the nearest skeleton. Now, Percy’s only been hit with a flying burrito twice in his life, but it is not fun. In terms of deadly projectiles, it’s right up there with grenades and cannonballs. Grover’s lunch hit the skeleton and knocked his skull clean off his shoulders.He has no idea what the kids in the café saw, but they went crazy and started throwing their burritos and baskets of chips and sodas at each other, shrieking and screaming. 

The skeletons tried to aim their guns, but it was hopeless. Bodies and food and drinks were flying everywhere. In the chaos, Percy and Thalia tackled the other two skeletons on the stairs and sent them flying into the condiment table. Then they all raced downstairs, Guacamole Grandes whizzing past their heads. 

“What now?” Grover asked as they burst outside. 

No one had an answer. The warriors on the road were closing in from either direction. The five of them ran across the street to the plaza with the winged bronze statues, but that just put their backs to the mountain. The skeletons moved forward, forming a crescent shape. Their brethren from the café were running up to join them; one was still putting its skull back on its shoulders. Another was covered in ketchup and mustard. Two more had burritos lodged in their ribcages. They didn’t look happy about it. They drew batons and advanced. 

“Four against eleven,” Zoë muttered. “And they cannot die.”

“It’s been nice adventuring with you guys,” Grover said, his voice trembling. 

“Thanks, Grover, it’s been nice traveling with you guys too,” Bianca said, tentatively reaching for her knife. 

Something sparked in his brain, and Percy remembered - something shiny. Statues. The statues! He turned to look at the statues dedicated to Zeus, with their polished toes from years of people rubbing them for luck.

“Percy!” Thalia yelled. “This isn’t the time.” 

The two giant bronze guys had tall bladed wings like letter openers. They stood tall and proud. 

“Thalia,” he said. “Pray to your dad.” 

She glared at him. “He never answers.” 

“Just this once,” he pleased. “That statues can give us some luck - just, please? Maybe something a little more formal?”

Six skeletons raised their guns. The other five came forward with batons. Fifteen metres away. Ten metres. 

“Do it!” Percy yelled. 

“No!” Thalia said. “He won’t answer me.” 

“Well it’s this or die!” 

“Try it,” Grover pleaded. 

Thalia closed her eyes. Her lips moved in a silent prayer. Percy put forth his own prayers - to Zeus, Athena, even his own father. And nothing happened. The skeletons closed in. He raised Riptide, still a bit shaky on his feet, and Thalia held up her shield. Zoë pushed Grover behind her and aimed an arrow at a skeleton’s head. Bianca raised her knife in warning, and just a few skeletons looked wary of her. 

Then a shadow fell over them; it was the shadow of an enormous wing. The skeletons looked up too late. A flash of bronze, and all five of the baton-wielders were swept aside. The other skeletons opened fire, but the bronze angels stepped in front of them and folded their wings like shields. Bullets pinged off them like rain off a corrugated roof. Both angels slashed outwards, and the skeletons went flying across the road. 

“Man, it feels good to stand up!” the first angel said. His voice sounded tinny and rusty, like he hadn’t had a drink since he’d been built. 

“Will ya look at my toes?” the other said. “Holy Zeus, what were those tourists thinking?” 

A few skeletons were already getting up again, reassembling, bony hands groping for their weapons. 

“Trouble!” Percy said/

“Get us out of here!” Thalia yelled. 

Both angels looked down at her. “Zeus’s kid?”

“Yes!”

“Could I get a please, Miss Zeus’s Kid?” an angel asked. 

“Please!”

The angels looked at each other and shrugged. “Could use a stretch,” one decided. And the next thing he knew, one of them grabbed him and Thalia, the other grabbed Bianca and Grover under one arm and Zoë in the other. They flew straight up, over the dam and the river, the skeleton warriors shrinking to tiny specks below and the sound of gunfire echoing off the sides of the mountains.

“Tell me when it’s over,” Thalia said. Her eyes were shut tight. The statue was holding onto them so they couldn’t fall, but Thalia still clutched his arm like it was the most important thing in the world. 

“Everything will be fine,” he said. “Remember the bridge. If anything happens, you’ll be just fine, right?” 

“Right,” she sucked in a breath. “Are… are we very high?” 

He looked down. Below, a range of snowy mountains zipped by. He stretched out a foot and kicked snow off one of the peaks. 

“Nah,” he said. “Not that high.” 

“We are in the Sierras!” Zoë yelled. She, Biancaand Grover were hanging from the arms of the other statue. “I have hunted here before. At this speed, we should be in San Francisco in a few hours.” 

“Hey, hey, Frisco!” the angel carrying him and Thalia said. “Yo, Chuck! We could visit those guys at the Mechanics Monument again! They know how to party!” 

“Oh, man,” the other angel said. “I am so there!” 

“You guys have visited San Francisco?” Percy asked. 

“We automatons gotta have some fun once in a while, right?” his statue said. “Those mechanics took us over to the de Young Museum and introduced us to these marble lady statues, see. And-” 

“Hank!” the other statue, Chuck, cut in. “They’re kids, man.” 

“Oh, right.” If bronze statues could blush, he’d swear Hank did. “Back to flying.” 

They sped up, clearly the angels were excited. The mountains fell away into hills, and then they were zipping along over farmland and towns and highways. Grover played his pipes to pass the time. Zoë got bored and started shooting arrows at random billboards as they flew by, and Bianca did as well - they seemed to make it a competition over who could aim for the most impressive spots. The inside of an ‘O’, an eye, etcetera. Every time they saw a Target department store – and they passed dozens of them – the Hunters would peg the store’s sign with a few bullseyes at a hundred miles an hour. 

Thalia kept her eyes closed the whole way. She muttered to herself a lot, like she was praying. 

“You did good back there,” he told her. “Zeus listened.” It was hard to tell what she was thinking with her eyes closed. 

“Maybe,” she said. “How did you get away from the skeletons in the generator room, anyway? You said they cornered you.” 

Percy told her about Rachel Dare, how she was weird and could see straight through the Mist. Thalia just nodded.

“Some mortals are like that,” she said. “Nobody knows why.”

“Yeah. Kinda glad I was so tired, might’ve tried to kill her when she startled me like that,” he smiled to himself.

Thalia nodded. “Must be nice to be a regular mortal.” She said that as if she’d given it a lot of thought. 

“Where you guys want to land?” Hank asked, waking him from a night of fitful sleep. 

Percy looked down and said, “Whoa.” He’d seen San Franscico a few times, but a birds-eye view like this was rare, and always breath-takin. It was kind of like a smaller, cleaner Manhattan, if Manhattan had been surrounded by green hills and fog. There was a huge bay and ships, islands and sailboats, and the Golden Gate Bridge sticking up out of the fog.

“There,’ Zoë suggested. “By the Embarcadero Building.” 

“Good thinking,” Chuck said. “Me and Hank can blend in with the pigeons.” 

Everyone stared at him. “Kidding,” he said. “Sheesh, can’t statues have a sense of humour?” 

As it turned out, there wasn’t much need to blend in. It was early morning and not many people were around. they freaked out a homeless guy on the ferry dock when they landed. He screamed when he saw Hank and Chuck and ran off yelling something about metal angels from Mars. The five said their goodbyes to the angels, who flew off to party with their statue friends. 

That’s when he realized he had no idea what to do next. They had three days left, and they were in San Francisco, but he had no idea how to get to the Mountain of Despair from here besides some vague directions. And he wasn’t in much of a fighting shape, he thought, absently feeling at the empty left sleeve of his lion-pelt coat.

“Nereus,” Percy sighed, already not happy about the idea. The others looked at him. 

“Apollo spoke to me when we were riding that train west. He said to find Nereus if we don’t know what to do.” Technically, he  _ knew  _ what to do, just not how to get where he needed to be to do it, or how to convince his friends it was the right thing to do. 

Zoë made a face. “Old Nereus, eh?”

“‘You know him?” Thalia asked. 

“My mother was a sea goddess. Yes, I know him. Unfortunately, he is never very hard to find. Just follow the smell.” 

“What do you mean?” Bianca asked. 

“Come,” she said, without enthusiasm. “I will show thee.” 

Percy wasn’t excited when they stopped at the Goodwill drop box, but it had to be done. But to his surprise, he wasn’t the one dressing up like an old man today. Five minutes later, Zoë had fitted Grover into a ragged flannel shirt and jeans three sizes too big, bright red trainers and a floppy rainbow hat. Switching shoes with his fake feet had required him, Thalia and Bianca to form a bit of a human-curtain while Zoë helped him. 

“Oh, yeah,” Thalia said, trying not to burst out laughing, “you look completely inconspicuous now.” 

The satyr took it all in stride, seeming happy that ‘Zoë needed him’ for this. Said Hunter led the way back down to the waterfront. After a long time spent searching the docks, Zoë finally stopped in her tracks. She pointed down a pier where a bunch of homeless guys were huddled together in blankets, waiting for the soup kitchen to open for lunch. 

“He will be down there somewhere,” Zoë said. “He never travels very far from the water. He likes to sun himself during the day.” 

“How do I know which one is him?” Grover asked. 

“Sneak up,” she said. “Act homeless. You will know him. He will smell… different.” 

“And once I find him?”

“Grab him,” she said. “And hold on. He will try anything to get rid of thee. Whatever he does, do not let go. Force him to tell thee about the monster.” 

“We’ve got your back,” Bianca said. She picked something off the back of his shirt – a big clump of fuzz that came from who knows where. 

Thalia came up and put a hand on the huntress’s shoulder. “I don’t think you want his back, but we are rooting for you.”

Percy gave his friend a thumbs up, and they all watched the satyr go down to the docks and try to act homeless. He did pretty well, honestly. After a few minutes of him stumbling around a lady with a grocery cart full of plastic flamingos and other weirdos, Grove came across a guy who looked about a million years old was passed out in a patch of sunlight. He wore pyjamas and a fuzzy bathrobe that probably used to be white. He was fat, with a white beard that had turned yellow, kind of like Santa Claus, if Santa had been rolled out of bed and dragged through a landfill. Oh yeah, that was definitely him.

From this side, it  _ was  _ pretty funny to watch some homeless-looking kid jump onto an old man and hold on for dear life, as they both screamed. This went on for quite a while, and they started rolling towards the end of the dock. Thinking quickly, Percy sent a prayer to his dad and thought about bubbles and oxygen in the water before they plunged in. It must’ve worked, because a few minutes later they came back up, and Nereus collapsed on the edge of the boat dock. 

They all ran down the steps from the pier to Grover.

Nereus moaned. “Oh, wonderful. An audience for my humiliation! The normal deal, I suppose? You’ll let me go if I answer your question?”

“We’ve got more than one question,” Percy said.

“Only one question per capture! That’s the rule.” 

Percy sighed. Turning to his friends for a moment, he wondered which question he should ask. Grover was still holding the old man down incase he tried to escape before answering, and he had an idea. 

“All right, Nereus. Tell me where to find this terrible monster that could bring an end to the gods. The one Artemis was hunting.” 

The Old Man of the Sea smiled, showing off his mossy green teeth. “Oh, that’s too easy,” he said evilly. “He’s right there.” Nereus pointed to the water at their feet. 

Glancing down and extending his senses, Percy realized he was right. Bessie was right there, he’d followed them all this way still. 

“The deal is complete!” Nereus gloated. With a pop, he turned into a goldfish and did a backflip into the sea. 

Before Percy he could introduce everyone to his little friend, Thalia had already spotted Bessia and asked, “Wait, what is  _ that? _ ”

“MOOOOOOOO!” Below them, Bessie was swimming back and forth, and came over to nudge his shoe - looking at him with those big brown eyes. 

“Ah, hey Bessie, how’re you doing?” he crouched down to pet her behind the ears. 

“Mooo!” 

Grover gasped. “He says his name isn’t Bessie.” 

“Ah, I figured it probably wasn’t, but I needed something to call him, yknow? So, you can understand him?”

Grover nodded. “It’s a very old form of animal speech. But he says his name is the Ophiotaurus.” 

Percy nodded absently, and turned his attention back to Bessie. 

“What’s he doing here?” Bianca asked. 

“Moooooooo!” 

“He says Percy is his protector,” Grover announced. “And he’s running from the bad people. He says they are close.” 

That seemed like a lot to get out of a single moo, but he figured animal languages were a lot different from human ones. Probably less complicated. 

“Wait,” Zoë said, looking at Percy. “You know this cow?” 

He nodded, and told them the story as briefly as he could. Thalia shook her head in disbelief. “And you just forgot to mention this before?” 

“Sorry, things got a little hectic,” Percy said, deadpan, gesturing vaguely to his left side. “Kinda forgot about some stuff along the way.” Thalia winced, and dropped it. 

“I am a fool,” Zoë said suddenly. “I know this story!” 

“What story?” 

“From the War of the Titans,” she said. “My… my father told me this tale, thousands of years ago. This is the beast we are looking for.” 

“Well, sure, but he won’t hurt anybody.”

“That is how we were wrong,” Zoë said. “We’ve been anticipating a huge dangerous monster, but the Ophiotaurus does not bring down the gods that way. He must be sacrificed.” 

“MMMM,” Bessie lowed. 

“I don’t think he likes the S-word,” Grover said. 

Percy tried to calm the little Opheotaurus down, and said, “But look at that adorable little face. You’d have to be a sociopath to wanna hurt him.”

Zoë nodded. “But there is power in killing innocence. Terrible power. The Fates ordained a prophecy aeons ago, when this creature was born. They said that whoever killed the Ophiotaurus and sacrificed its entrails to fire would have the power to destroy the gods.” 

“MMMMMM!” 

“Um,” Grover said. “Maybe we could avoid talking about entrails, too.” 

Bianca seemed fairly disturbed by all of this. “But.. how? The power to destroy the gods, how could that be possible?

“No one knows,” Zoë said. “The first time, during the Titan war, the Ophiotaurus was in fact slain by a giant ally of the Titans, but thy father Zeus sent an eagle to snatch the entrails away before they could be tossed into the fire. It was a close call. Now, after three thousand years, the Ophiotaurus is reborn.” 

Thalia sat down on the dock, and stretched out her hand. Bessie went right to her. Thalia placed her hand on his head, and Bessie shivered. With some urging from himself, Percy got Bianca to come pet the sea-cow too. It was a very precious moment. 

“We have to protect him,” Percy said, his tone leaving no room for argument. “If Luke got ahold of him-”

“Luke wouldn’t hesitate,” Thalia muttered. “The power to overthrow Olympus. That’s… that’s huge.”

“Yes, it is, my dear,” said a man’s voice in a heavy French accent. “And it is a power you shall unleash.” 

The Ophiotaurus made a whimpering sound and submerged. Percy looked up. They’d been so busy talking, they’d allowed themselves to be ambushed. Standing just behind them, his two-color eyes gleaming wickedly, was Dr Thorn, the manticore himself. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	13. Pray pray pray

“This is just pairrr-fect,” the manticore gloated. He was wearing a ratty black trench coat over his Westover Hall uniform, which was torn and stained. His military haircut had grown out spiky and greasy. He hadn’t shaved recently, so his face was covered in silver stubble. Basically, he didn’t look much better than the rest of the people hovering around the soup kitchen. 

“Long ago, the gods banished me to Persia,” the manticore said. “I was forced to scrounge for food on the edges of the world, hiding in forests, devouring insignificant human farmers for my meals. I never got to fight any great heroes. I was not feared and admired in the old stories! But now that will change. The Titans shall honour me, and I shall feast on the flesh of half-bloods!”

On either side of him stood two armed security guys, some of the mortal mercenaries they’d seen in D.C. Two more stood on the next boat dock over, just in case they tried to escape that way. There were tourists all around – walking down the waterfront, shopping at the pier above - but that wouldn’t stop Thorn from doing anything. 

“So, where are your skeleton buddies?” Percy asked.

He sneered. “I do not need those foolish undead! The General thinks I am worthless? He will change his mind when I defeat you myself!” 

Percy needed a minute to think. He remembered asking Mr. D for help last time, but couldn’t remember how - the guy wasn’t exactly one to answer prayers, after all. “We’ve beaten you once,” he said, trying to buy time, “we can do it again.” 

“Ha! You could barely fight me with a goddess on your side. And, alas… that goddess is preoccupied at the moment. There will be no help for you now.” 

Zoë notched an arrow and aimed it straight at the manticore’s head. The guards on either side of him raised their guns. 

“Wait!” he shouted, deliberately looking away from the guard’s weapons. “Don’t do it!” 

Bianca had looked ready to raise her bow, too, but instead set a hand on Zoë’s arm. The huntress reluctantly lowered her weapon. 

The manticore smiled. “That is is right, Zoë Nightshade. Put away your bow. It would be a shame to kill you before you witnessed Thalia’s great victory.”

“What are you talking about?” Thalia growled. She had her shield and spear ready. 

“Surely it is clear,” Thorn said. “This is your moment. This is why Lord Kronos brought you back to life. You will sacrifice the Ophiotaurus. You will bring its entrails to the sacred fire on the mountain. You will gain unlimited power. And for your sixteenth birthday, you will overthrow Olympus.” 

No one spoke. In some ways, it made terrible sense. Thalia was only two days away from turning sixteen, she was a child of the Big Three. And here was a choice, a terrible choice that could mean the end of the gods. It was just like the prophecy said. Percy only took comfort in the fact that the prophecy likely still intended the same thing it had last time, and they had some time yet before the fate of Olympus was threatened. 

Thalia hesitated, saying nothing. She looked completely stunned. 

“You know it is the right choice,” the manticore told her. “Your friend Luke recognized it. You shall be reunited with him. You shall rule this world together under the auspices of the Titans. Your father abandoned you, Thalia. He cares nothing for you. And now you shall gain power over him. Crush the Olympians underfoot, as they deserve. Call the beast! It will come to you. Use your spear.” 

“Thalia,” Percy said carefully. “Snap out of it.”

She looked at him the same way she had the morning she woke up on Half-Blood Hill, dazed and uncertain. Like she didn’t know him at all. “I… I don’t-” 

“Your father helped you,” he reminded her. “He sent the metal angels. He turned you into a tree to preserve you.” 

Her hand tightened on the shaft of her spear. Looking to Grover, he hoped their empathy link would be enough to convey the message. Thankfully, his friend understood. He raised his pipes to his mouth and played a quick riff. 

Thorn yelled, “Stop him!” 

The guards had been targeting Zoë. and by extension Bianca, and before they could figure out that the kid with the pipes was the bigger problem, the wooden planks at their feet sprouted new branches and tangled their legs. The Hunters both moved fluidly, at the same moment, and before anyone was sure what had happened, four or five arrows had been launched, phosphorus yellow smoke coming from them. Fart arrows. The guards started coughing. The manticore shot spines in his direction but they ricocheted off the lion’s coat. 

“Grover,” Percy said, “Tell Bessie t dive deep and stay hidden!” 

“Moooooo!” Grover translated. Hopefully the Opheotaurus would actually listen. 

“The cow…” Thalia muttered, still in a daze. 

“Come on!” He pulled her along and up the stairs to the shopping center on the pier. They dashed round the corner of the nearest store. 

The manticore shouted, “Get them!”, as tourists screamed when the guards shot blindly into the air. 

Scrambling to the end of the pier, Percy hid them behind a little kiosk filled with souvenir crystals – wind chimes and dream catchers and stuff like that, glittering in the sunlight. There was a water fountain next to them, and down below a bunch of sea lions were sunning themselves on the rocks. The whole of San Francisco Bay spread out before them: the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island and the green hills and fog beyond that to the north. A picture-perfect moment, minus the monsters and panicking mortals. 

“Go over the side!” Zoë shouted. “You can escape in the sea, Percy. Call on thy father for help. Maybe you can save the Ophiotaurus.” 

She was right, in a way. He could bring Bessie to his dad and the end of the world would be less of a present danger, but… as he watched his friends running and fighting, he couldn’t bring himself to run away. 

“I’m not leaving you guys, we fight together!”

“You have to get word to camp!” Grover said. “At least let them know what’s going on!” 

Then he noticed the crystals making rainbows in the sunlight. There was a drinking fountain next to him… uncapping Riptide with his teeth, Percy slashed off the top of the water fountain. Water burst out of the busted pipe and sprayed all over them, and the fog seemed to clear from Thalia’s eyes as it hit her right in the face.

“Are you crazy?” she asked. 

But Grover understood. He was already fishing around in his pockets for a coin. He threw a golden drachma into the rainbows created by the mist and yelled, “O goddess, accept my offering.” The mist rippled. 

“Camp Half-Blood!” Percy shouted. And there, shimmering in the Mist right next to them was Mr D, wearing his leopard-skin jogging suit and rummaging through the refrigerator. 

He looked up lazily. “Do you mind?” 

“Sorry for interrupting, but we’re about to die! And I know you don’t care about that, but we’re kinda protecting the Opheotaurus! You know, the one thing that could bring down all of Oylmpus? Where your wife is waiting?” 

It probably wasn’t smart to hit such a sore spot, but they didn’t have time to be nice. There were footsteps and shouting – the manticore’s troops were closing in. 

Something indescribable flashed in Mr D’s eyes. “About to die,” the god mused. “How exciting.”

“We’re dead,” Grover moaned. 

“Then we’ll die fighting,” Thalia said, gripping her spear. She looked like her normal, angry self. 

“How noble,” Mr D said, stifling a yawn. “So what is the problem, exactly?” 

The manticore screamed, “There!” and they were surrounded. Two of the guards stood behind him, and the other two appeared on the roofs of the pier shops above. The manticore threw off his coat and transformed into his true self, his lion claws extended and his spiky tail bristling with poison barbs. 

“Excellent,” Thorn said. He glanced at the apparition in the mist and snorted. 

Zoë readied her arrows. Bianca raised her bow, but seemed just as ready to go for her knife. Grover lifted his pipes. Thalia raised her shield, and he noticed a tear running down her cheek. 

_ This must be familiar for her,  _ Percy thought.  _ Dying for her friends with no help from the gods.  _

Taking a deep breath and stabbing Riptide into the wooden planks underfoot, he prayed. Aloud, for once. It took a moment to remember the proper wording, but this was one of the prayers he kept close to his heart, along with the ones for his father and uncles. 

“ O Dionysos; thyrsus-shaker, ivy-crowned god, we see you in the shadows, we see you on the edges, we see you in the haze of ecstasy, where we know the truth of passion, where we find the essence of our being. Dionysos, I call to you! Save us, and the sea will owe a great debt.” 

His friends seemed a bit surprised at the formality - Zoë especially. For a few moments, nothing happened. Thorn grinned. “Spare the daughter of Zeus. She will join us soon enough. Kill the others.” The men raised their guns, and something strange happened. 

The sunlight tinged with purple. Everything felt like he’d stood up too quickly. The smell of grapes and wine permeated the air. All around was the crackling sound of madness. One guard put his pistol between his teeth like it was a bone and ran around on all fours. Two others dropped their guns and started waltzing with each other. The fourth began doing what looked like an Irish clogging dance. It would have been funny if it wasn’t also terrifying. 

“No!” the manticore screamed. “I will deal with you myself!” His tail bristled, but the planks under his paws erupted into grapevines that immediately began wrapping round the monster’s body, sprouting new leaves and clusters of green baby grapes that ripened in seconds as the manticore shrieked, until he was engulfed in a huge mass of vines, leaves and full clusters of purple grapes. Finally the grapes stopped shivering, and something told Percy it wasn’t because Thorn had just stopped struggling. 

“Well,” said Dionysus, closing his refrigerator. “That was fun. I’ll be holding you to that debt, kid.” 

Percy nodded. “They’ll stop doing that eventually… right?” he asked, gesturing to the humans. 

Mr D snorted. “The mortals will come out of it. Too much explaining to do if I made their condition permanent. I hate writing reports to Father.” He stared resentfully at Thalia. “I hope you learned your lesson, girl. It isn’t easy to resist power, is it?” 

Thalia blushed. ashamed. 

“Mr D,” Grover said in amazement. “You… you saved us.” 

“Mmm. Don’t make me regret it, satyr. Now get going, Percy Jackson. I’ve bought you a few hours at most.” 

“Any idea where we should go next?” he asked. 

Dionysus looked at Zoë. “Oh, I think the huntress knows. You must enter at sunset today, you know, or all is lost. Now goodbye. My pizza is waiting.” He waved his hand, and his image disappeared in the mist. 

All around, the manticore’s minions were still acting completely nuts. One of them had found their friend the homeless guy, and they were having a serious conversation about metal angels from Mars. Several other guards were harassing the tourists, making animal noises and trying to steal their shoes. 

Bianca turned to Zoë as she put away her bow. “What did he mean… the huntress knows? He didn’t mean me, did he?”

Zoë’s face was the color of the fog. She pointed across the bay, past the Golden Gate Bridge. In the distance, a single mountain rose up above the cloud layer. “The garden of my sisters,” she said. “I must go home.”

“We will never make it,” Zoë said. “We are moving too slowly. But we cannot leave the Ophiotaurus.” 

“Mooo,” Bessie said. He swam next to them as they jogged along the waterfront. The five of them had left the shopping-center pier far behind. They were heading towards the Golden Gate Bridge, but it was farther than it looked; the sun was already dipping in the west. 

“We have until sunset, huh?” Percy asked idly, feeling like the answer was just on the tip of his tongue. 

“The Hesperides are the nymphs of the sunset,” Zoë said. “We can only enter their garden as day changes to night.”

“Ah, so if we miss it we’d have to wait until next sunset. And by then, the Olympian Council will be over. We need to save them tonight.” 

“We need a car,” Thalia said. 

“But what about the Ophiotaurus?” Bianca asked. “We can’t just leave him behind.”

Grover stopped in his tracks, and looked to Percy. “I’ve got an idea! The Ophiotaurus can appear in different bodies of water, right?”

“Yeah, pretty much. Wherever he wants to be.” 

“So maybe we could coax him back to Long Island Sound,” Grover said. “Then Chiron could help us get him to Olympus.” 

“But he only got here by following me. He won’t know where to go on his own.”

“Moo,” Bessie said forlornly. 

“I… I can show him,” Grover said. “I’ll go with him.”

The others stared at him, but this is where Percy had been trying to lead the conversation. No one else could really do it, in the end. 

“I’m the only one who can talk to him,” Grover said. “It makes sense.” He bent down and said something in Bessie’s ear. Bessie shivered, then made a contented, lowing sound. 

“The blessing of the Wild,” Grover said. “That should help with safe passage. Percy, pray to your dad, too. See if he will grant us safe passage through the seas.”

Nodding, Percy shrugged off the Nemean lion’s skin, thankful it was light enough to hold in one hand, unlike the Golden Fleece. Something this big would require some sort of sacrifice, considering Bessie’s… value. 

“Dad, please help Grover and the Opheotaurus. Grant them safe passage through your seas, and take this offering in return.”

“Percy,” Grover said. “Are you sure? That lion skin… that’s really helpful. Hercules used it!” 

“I’m no Hercules.” “He threw the coat into the bay. It turned back into a golden lion skin, flashing in the light. Then, as it began to sink beneath the waves, it seemed to dissolve into sunlight on the water. The sea breeze picked up. 

Grover took a deep breath. “Well, no time to lose.” He jumped in the water and immediately began to sink. Bessie glided next to him and let Grover take hold of his neck. 

“Be careful,” Percy spoke just loud enough to be heard. 

“We will,” Grover said. “Okay, um… Bessie? We’re going to Long Island. It’s east. Over that way.”

“Moooo?” Bessie asked. 

“Yes,” Grover answered. “Long Island. It’s this island. And… it’s long. Oh, let’s just start.”

“Mooo!” Bessie lurched forward. 

He started to submerge and Grover said, “I can’t breathe underwater! Just thought I’d mention-”

Percy chuckled as they went under, knowing his dad generally understood most people couldn’t breathe underwater without help. 

“Well, that is one problem addressed,” Zoë said. “But how can we get to my sisters’ garden?”

“We definitely need a car,” Bianca said. “But we can’t just… take one, right?” 

“Wait,” Thalia said. She started rifling through her backpack. “There is somebody in San Francisco who can help us. I’ve got the address here somewhere.”

“Who?” Percy asked, smiling. He knew full-well who she’d suggest. 

Thalia pulled out a crumpled piece of notebook paper and held it up. “Professor Chase. Annabeth’s dad.” 

Annabeth’s dad was one of those people that was average in terms of people Percy met on a day-to-day basis, but would probably seem odd to most mortals. When he opened the door, he was wearing an old-fashioned aviator’s cap and goggles that made his eyes look like they were really to pop out of their sockets. 

“Hello,” he greeted in a friendly voice. ‘Are you delivering my aeroplanes?” 

Thalia and Bianca shared a look, and Zoë just seemed uncomfortable.

“Uhm, no sir,” Bianca said. 

“Drat,” he said. “I need three more Sopwith Camels.” 

“Right,” Percy cut in. “We’re just friends of Annabeth.” 

“Annabeth?” He straightened like he’d been hit with a low-voltage taser. “Is she all right? Has something happened?” 

No one answered. They must’ve looked pretty worse for wear, (himself especially,) because Dr Chase took off his cap and goggles with a worried look. He had sandy-colored hair like Annabeth and intense brown eyes. He was about how Percy remembered, minus the grey hair and some wrinkles he’d had the last time they met… maybe four years ago now? It’d been on Annabeth’s twenty-seventh birthday. 

“You’d better come in,” he said. It didn’t look like a house that’d just been moved into. There were LEGO robots on the stairs and two cats sleeping on the sofa in the living room. The coffee table was stacked with magazines, and a little kid’s winter coat was spread on the floor. The whole house smelled like fresh-baked chocolate-chip cookies. There was jazz music coming from the kitchen. It seemed like a messy, happy kind of home – which it almost was. 

“Dad!” a little boy screamed. “He’s taking apart my robots!” 

“Bobby,” Dr Chase called absently, “don’t take apart your brother’s robots.” 

“I’m Bobby,” the little boy protested. “He’s Matthew!”

“Matthew,” Dr Chase called, ‘don’t take apart your brother’s robots!”

“Okay, Dad!” 

Those kids were worse than the Stolls, and it was almost relieving that they were no different as adults - just craftier and smarter.

Dr Chase turned to them. “We’ll go upstairs to my study. This way.”

“Honey?” a woman called. Annabeth’s stepmom appeared in the living room, wiping her hands on a dish towel. She was a pretty Asian woman with red highlighted hair tied in a bun. “Who are our guests?” she asked. 

“Oh,: Dr Chase said. “This is…” He stared at them all blankly. 

“Frederick,” she chided. “You forgot to ask them their names?”

They introduced themselves awkwardly. At least Percy didn’t have to feel too conflicted about Mrs Chase this time - she and Annabeth had had their issues, but grew past that later in life. He’d always been glad that she could have a mom around that wasn’t… well, a goddess. Not that Athena was bad, but it was nice to have someone who could relate to your more mortal problems. Mrs Chase asked if they were hungry, and offered to bring them some cookies and sandwiches and sodas when they said they were. 

“Dear,” Dr Chase said. “They came about Annabeth.” 

She pursed her lips, looking concerned. “All right. Go on up to the study and I’ll bring you some food.” She smiled at Percy. “Nice meeting you, Percy. I’ve heard a lot about you.” 

Upstairs, they walked into Dr Chase’s study, and it was as impressive as ever, if a bit messy. The room was wall-to-wall books, and there was a huge table with miniature tanks and soldiers fighting along a blue painted river, with hills and fake trees and whatnot. Old-fashioned biplanes hung on strings from the ceiling, tilted at crazy angles like they were in the middle of a dogfight. 

Dr Chase noticed Percy staring and smiled. “Yes. The Third Battle of Ypres. I’m writing a paper, you see, on the use of Sopwith Camels to strafe enemy lines. I believe they played a much greater role than they’ve been given credit for.” He plucked a biplane from its string and swept it across the battlefield, making aeroplane engine noises as he knocked down little German soldiers. 

Zoë came over and studied the battlefield. “The German lines were further from the river.” 

Dr Chase stared at her. “How do you know that?”

“I was there,”” she said matter-of-factly. “Artemis wanted to show us how horrible war was, the way mortal men fight each other. And how foolish, too. The battle was a complete waste.”

Dr Chase opened his mouth in shock. “You-”

“She’s a Hunter, sir,” Thalia said. “But that’s not why we’re here. We need-” 

“You saw the Sopwith Camels?” Dr Chase said. “How many were there? What formations did they fly?” 

Bianca seemed equally invested, looking to Zoë for her answer.

“Sir,” Thalia broke in again. “Annabeth is in danger.”

That got his attention. He set the biplane down. “Of course,” he said. “Tell me everything.”

It wasn’t easy, but they went through everything. When they spoke briefly about the junkyard, Percy instinctively reached to twist his ring, but it was still... in his pocket. He settled for fiddling with his camp beads instead, thankful for the pressure under his fingers. 

When they’d finished, Dr Chase collapsed in his leather recliner. He laced his hands. “My poor brave Annabeth. We must hurry.” 

“Sir, we need transportation to Mount Tamalpais,” Zoësaid. “And we need it immediately.” 

“I’ll drive you. Hmm, it would be faster to fly in my Camel, but it only seats two.”

“You have an actual biplane?” Bianca gasped. 

“Down at Crissy Field,” Dr Chase said proudly. “That’s the reason I had to move here. My sponsor is a private collector with some of the finest World War I relics in the world. He let me restore the Sopwith Camel-”

“Sir,” Thalia said. “Just a car would be great. And it might be better if we went without you. It’s too dangerous.” 

Dr Chase frowned uncomfortably.”‘Now wait a minute, young lady. Annabeth is my daughter. Dangerous or not, I… I can’t just-”

“Snacks,” Mrs Chase announced. She pushed through the door with a tray full of peanut-butter-and-jam sandwiches and Cokes and cookies fresh out of the oven, the chocolate chips still gooey. 

Thalia inhaled a few cookies and he and Bianca tore into the sandwiches (surprisingly difficult with one hand, but where there’s a will there’s a way,) while Zoë said, “I can drive, sir. I’m not as young as I look. I promise not to destroy your car.”

Mrs Chase knitted her eyebrows. “What’s this about?” 

“Annabeth is in danger,” Dr Chase said. “On Mount Tam. I would drive them, but… apparently it’s no place for mortals.” 

Percy wanted to argue that point for several reasons, but his friends would just think he was crazy - they hadn’t seen just how brave and strong Annabeth’s dad could be, yet. 

Mrs Chase just nodded. “Then they’d better get going.” 

“Right!” Dr Chase jumped up and started patting his pockets. “My keys…”

His wife sighed. “Frederick, honestly. You’d lose your head if it weren’t wrapped inside your aviator hat. The keys are hanging on the peg by the front door.”

“Right!” Dr Chase said. 

Zoë grabbed a sandwich. “Thank you both. We should go. Now.” 

The four of them hustled out the door and down the stairs, the Chases right behind them. 

“Percy,” Mrs Chase called as they were leaving, “tell Annabeth… Tell her she still has a home here, will you? Remind her of that.” 

“I’ll tell her,” he agreed easily. 

They ran out to the yellow VW convertible parked in the driveway. The sun was going down. They had to have less than an hour on their side.

“Can’t this thing go any faster?” Thalia demanded. 

Zoë glared at her. ‘I cannot control traffic.” 

“You both sound like my mother,” he said. 

“Shut up!” they said in unison. Bianca set a hand on his shoulder in sympathy, though he doubted she’d ever been scolded by such hotheads at the same time before. 

Zoë weaved in and out of traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge. The sun was sinking on the horizon when they finally got into Marin County and exited the highway. The roads were insanely narrow, winding through forests and up the sides of hills and round the edges of steep ravines. Zow didn’t slow down at all. 

“Why does everything smell like cough drops?” he asked. 

“Eucalyptus.” Zoë pointed to the huge trees all around. 

“Oh, like what koalas eat.”

“And monsters,” she said. “They love chewing the leaves. Especially dragons.” 

Right, he’d read something about that before. Not that he encountered a lot of dragons in his life - organic ones, anyway. 

Ahead of them loomed Mount Tamalpais. In terms of mountains it wasn’t that big, but it was still pretty intimidating. 

Percy wasn’t exactly one for story time, but they were all strung pretty tight at the moment. It might do some good to talk, or listen for a minute. “So, why do they call it the mountain of despair, exactly?” he asked. 

Zoë was silent for almost a mile before answering. Not like he’d expected Thalia to answer, and Bianca likely didn’t know yet either. “After the war between the Titans and the gods, many of the Titans were punished and imprisoned. Kronos was sliced to pieces and thrown into Tartarus. Kronos’s right-hand man, the general of his forces, was imprisoned up there, on the summit, just beyond the Garden of the Hesperides.

_ The General,  _ he thought sourly.  _ Compared to what his boss got, you’d think he wouldn’t complain so much about his own punishment.  _

Clouds seemed to be swirling round its peak, as though the mountain were drawing them in, spinning them like a top. It wasn’t a comfortable visual. 

“We have to concentrate,” Thalia said. “The Mist is really strong here.”

“The magical kind or the natural kind?” he joked. 

“Both.” 

The grey clouds swirled even thicker over the mountain, and they kept driving straight towards them. They were out of the forest now, into wide open spaces of cliffs and grass and rocks and fog. Glancing down at the ocean as they took a scenic curve, he frowned. A white shape that looked suspiciously like a cruise ship was hanging out down there.  _ Luke.  _

“Well, looks like the  _ Princess Andromeda _ is here,” he said. 

Thalia’s eyes widened. “Luke’s ship?”

“We will have company, then,” Zoë said grimly. “Kronos’s army.” 

“Who’s Luke?” Bianca asked. 

Percy was debating answering that unpleasant question, when suddenly all of his senses went haywire. 

Thalia shouted, “Stop the car. NOW!” 

Zoë must’ve sensed something was wrong, too, because she slammed on the brakes without question. The yellow VW spun twice before coming to a stop at the edge of the cliff. 

“Out!” Thalia opened the door and pushed him hard. They both rolled onto the pavement. The next second:  _ BOOOM!  _

Lightning flashed, and Dr Chase’s Volkswagen erupted like a canary-yellow grenade. Percy probably would’ve been killed by shrapnel except for Thalia’s shield, which appeared over him. There was a sound like metal rain, and when he opened his eyes, they were surrounded by wreckage. One of the VW’s doors had impaled itself in the street. The smoking bonnet was spinning in circles. Pieces of yellow metal were strewn across the road. 

Percy swallowed hard, and glanced around. Bianca was just sitting up, about as scratched up as a kid who’d tumbled off their bike the hard way, but otherwise fine. 

“One shall perish by a parent’s hand,” Zoë muttered. “Curse him. He would destroy me? Me?”

“Oh, no way that was Zeus’s lighting bolt,” he muttered. 

“Whose, then?” she demanded. 

“I don’t know. I just don’t think it was him. Zoë inflicted Kronos’s name-”

Thalia shook her head, looking angry and stunned. “No. That wasn’t it.” 

“Wait,” he suddenly thought, “Where’s Zoë? Zoë!” 

They both got up and ran round the blasted VW. Nothing inside. Nothing either direction down the road. He looked down the cliff. No sign of her. At some point Bianca had joined the search too, and looked more frantic than either of them combined. 

“Zoë!” he shouted. 

Then she was standing right next to him, pulling on his good arm. “Silence, fool! Do you want to wake Ladon?” 

“You mean we’re here?” 

“Very close,” she said. “Follow me.” 

Sheets of fog were drifting right across the road. Zoë stepped into one of them, and, when the fog passed, she was no longer there. He and Thalia looked at eachother. (Had Bianca already followed?) 

“Concentrate on Zoë,” Thalia advised. “We are following her. Go straight into the fog and keep that in mind.”

He nodded, and she stepped into the fog, into the Mist. He followed shortly after. When the fog cleared, they were still on the side of the mountain, but the road was dirt. The grass was thicker. The sunset made a blood-red slash across the sea. The summit of the mountain seemed closer now, swirling with storm clouds and raw power. There was only one path to the top, directly in front of them. And it led through a lush meadow of shadows and flowers: the garden of twilight, just like Percy had seen in his dream. 

  
  
  



	14. Great burdens

If it hadn’t been for the enormous dragon, the garden would’ve been the most beautiful place he’d ever seen. The grass shimmered with silvery evening light, and the flowers were such brilliant colors they almost glowed in the dark. Stepping stones of polished black marble led round either side of a five-storey-tall apple tree, every bough glittering with golden apples. Something about bing into pure gold haad always made him cringe, no matter how appealing the fruit seemed in person.

“The apples of immortality,” Thalia said. “Hera’s wedding gift from Zeus.” 

The dragon guarding the tree was more intimidating than what mortals made them out to be in movies and books. Smaug might come close, but even that didn;t really compare. It’s body was as thick as a booster rocket, glinting with coppery scales. It had more heads than he could count, as if a hundred deadly pythons had been fused together. It appeared to be asleep. The heads lay curled in a big spaghetti-like mound on the grass, all the eyes closed. Then the shadows in front of them began to move. 

There was a beautiful, eerie singing, like voices from the bottom of a well. He wanted to reach for Riptide, but stopped himself. Four figures shimmered into existence, four young women who looked very much like Zoë. They all wore white Greek chitons. Their skin was like caramel. Silky black hair tumbled loose around their shoulders.

“Sisters,” Zoë said. 

“We do not see any sister,” one of the girls said coldly. “We see two half-bloods and some Hunters. All of whom shall soon die.”

“Hey,” he said, stepping forward. “No one’s going to die here.”

The girls studied him. They had eyes like volcanic rock, glassy and completely black. 

“Perseus Jackson,” one of them said. 

“Yes,” mused another. “I do not see why he is a threat.” 

“Not even a whole man anymore,” the final sister spoke. 

“Who said I was trying to be threatening?” he asked, ignoring the barb for the sake of not pissing off Zoë’s family.

The first Hesperid glanced behind her, towards the top of the mountain. :They fear thee. They are unhappy that this one has not yet killed thee.” 

She pointed at Thalia. 

“Tempting sometimes,” Thalia admitted. “But no thanks. He’s my friend.” 

“There are no friends here, daughter of Zeus,” the girl said. “Only enemies. Go back.” 

“Not without Annabeth,” Thalia said. 

“And Artemis,” Zoë and Bianca spoke at the same time. “We must approach the mountain,” Zoë continued. 

“You know he will kill thee,” the girl said. “You are no match for him.” 

“Artemis must be freed,” Zoë insisted. “Let us pass.”

The girl shook her head. “You have no rights here anymore. We have only to raise our voices and Ladon will wake.”

“He will not hurt me,” Zoë said. 

“No? And what about thy so-called friends?” 

Then Zoë did something objectively stupid. She shouted, “Ladon! Wake!” The dragon stirred, glittering like a mountain of pennies. The Hesperides yelped and scattered. 

The lead girl said to Zoë, “Are you mad?”

“You never had any courage, sister,” Zoë said. “That is thy problem.” 

The dragon Ladon was writhing now, a hundred heads whipping around, tongues flickering and tasting the air. Zoë took a step forward, her arms raised. 

“Zoë, don’t,” Thalia said. “You’re not a Hesperid any more. He’ll kill you.” 

“Ladon is trained to protect the tree,” Zoë said. “Skirt round the edges of the garden. Go up the mountain. As long as I am a bigger threat, he should ignore thee.” 

“You can’t mean we should leave you behind?” Bianca demanded. 

“It is the only way,” she said. “Even the four of us together cannot fight him.”

Ladon opened his mouths. The sound of a hundred heads hissing at once was enough to dissuade from this course of action, and that was before the smell of his breath reached them. The smell was like acid. It made Percy;s eyes burn, his skin crawl and his hair stand on end. It was like a thousand warm, dead rodents in a vent with the faint hint of Eucalyptus. 

He wanted to fight Ladon, but remembered how a head-on assault had failed so many adventurers before. Trusting Zoë’s judgment, he eased his way right, Bianca following closely. Thalia went left. Zoë walked straight towards the monster. 

“It’s me, my little dragon,” she said. “Zoë has come back.” 

Ladon shifted forward, then back. Some of the mouths closed. Some kept hissing. Dragon confusion. Meanwhile, the Hesperides shimmered and turned into shadows. 

The voice of the eldest whispered, “Fool.”

“I used to feed thee by hand,” Zoë continued, speaking in a soothing voice as she stepped towards the golden tree. “Do you still like lamb’s meat?”

The dragon’s eyes glinted. The three of them were about halfway round the garden. Ahead, he could see a single rocky trail leading up to the black peak of the mountain. The storm swirled above it, spinning on the summit like it was the axis for the whole world. 

They’d almost made it out of the meadow when something went wrong. He felt the dragon’s mood shift. Maybe Zoë got too close. Maybe the dragon realized he was hungry. Whatever the reason, he lunged at Zoë. 

Two thousand years of training kept her alive. She dodged one set of slashing fangs and tumbled under another, weaving through the dragon’s heads as she ran in our direction, gagging from the monster’s horrible breath. 

Percy pulled Anaklusmos from his pocket, uncapping it with his teeth. 

“No!” Zoë panted. “Run!”

The dragon snapped at her side, and Zoë cried out. Bianca drew her bow, but her arrow just skidded off of the dragons’ scales. Thalia uncovered Aegis, and suddenly the dragon hissed in pain. In his moment of indecision, Zoë sprinted past them up the mountain, and they followed. 

The dragon didn’t try to pursue. He hissed and stomped the ground, but he was well trained to guard that tree. He wasn’t going to be lured off, even by the tasty prospect of eating some heroes.

They ran up the mountain as the Hesperides resumed their song in the shadows from behind. The music didn’t sound so beautiful now – more like the soundtrack for a funeral. 

At the top of the mountain were ruins, blocks of black granite and marble as big as houses. Broken columns. Statues of bronze that looked as though they’d been half melted. 

“The ruins of Mount Othrys,” Thalia whispered in awe. ‘

“Yes,” Zoë said. “It was not here before. This is bad.”

“Mount Othrys?” Bianca questioned. 

“The mountain fortress of the Titans,” Zoë said. “In the first war, Olympus and Othrys were the two rival capitals of the world. Othrys was-” she winced and held her side. 

“You’re hurt,” Percy said. “Let me see.”

“No! It is nothing. I was saying… in the first war, Othrys was blasted to pieces.”

“But… how is it here?” Thalia looked around cautiously as they picked their way through the rubble, past blocks of marble and broken archways. 

“It moves in the same way that Olympus moves. It always exists on the edges of civilization. But the fact that it is here, on this mountain, is not good.”

“Why?”

“This is Atlas’s mountain,” Zoë said. “Where he holds-” She froze. Her voice was ragged with despair. “Where he used to hold up the sky.”

They had reached the summit. A few metres ahead, grey clouds swirled in a heavy vortex, making a funnel cloud that almost touched the mountaintop, but instead rested on the shoulders of a twelve-year-old girl with auburn hair and a tattered silvery dress: Artemis, her legs bound to the rock with celestial bronze chains. 

“My lady!” The Hunters cried, rushing forward, but Artemis said, “Stop! It is a trap. You must leave now.”

Her voice was strained. She was drenched in sweat. It was rare to see a god or goddess in pain, but the weight of the sky was clearly too much for Artemis. Zoë was crying, and Bianca openly sobbing. They ran forward despite Artemis’s protests, and alternated tugging at the chains and (in Bianca’s case) trying to cut them with their hunting knives.

A booming voice spoke behind them: “Ah, how touching.” 

They turned. The General was standing there in his brown silk suit. At his side were Luke and half a dozen dracaenae bearing the golden sarcophagus of Kronos. Annabeth stood at Luke’s side. She had her hands cuffed behind her back, a gag in her mouth and Luke was holding the point of his sword to her throat.

Percy met her eyes, and she seems to be saying a million things in just one glance. Like, ‘what the hell happened to you?’ and ‘RUN, YOU IDIOT!’

“Luke,” Thalia snarled. “Let her go.”

Luke’s smile was weak and pale. He looked even worse than he had three days ago in D.C. “That is the General’s decision, Thalia. But it’s good to see you again.”

Thalia spat at him. 

The General chuckled. “So much for old friends. And you, Zoë. It’s been a long time. How is my little traitor? I will enjoy killing you.”

“Do not respond,” Artemis groaned. “Do not challenge him.”

“Wait a second,” Percy said, in very typical fashion, “ _ this guy  _ is Atlas? Seriously?” He pretended to fail holding back a laugh. 

The General glanced at him, not pleased but endlessly patient as far as Titans go. “Yes, I am Atlas, the general of the Titans and terror of the gods. Congratulations. I will kill you presently, as soon as I deal with this wretched girl.” 

“You’re not going to hurt Zoë,: Bianca interjected, standing with an arrow already notched.

The General sneered. “You have no right to interfere, little huntress. This is a family matter.” 

She frowned. “A family matter?”

“Yes,” Zoë said bleakly. “Atlas is my father.” 

The worst part was, this close, it was impossible to deny the resemblance. Atlas had the same regal expression as Zoë, the same cold, proud look in his eyes that Zoë sometimes got when she was mad, though on him it just looked evil. He was all the things he’d originally disliked about Zoë all those years ago, with none of the good he’d come to appreciate. 

“Let Artemis go,” Zoë demanded.

Atlas walked closer to the chained goddess. “Perhaps you’d like to take the sky for her, then? Be my guest.”

Zoë opened her mouth to speak, but Artemis said, “No! Do not offer, Zoë! I forbid you.” She sent a pointed look to Bianca as well. “I forbid  _ any  _ of my Hunters from doing so.”

Atlas smirked. He knelt next to Artemis and tried to touch her face, but the goddess bit at him, almost taking off his fingers. 

“Hoo-hoo,” Atlas chuckled. “You see, daughter? Lady Artemis likes her new job. I think I will have all the Olympians take turns carrying my burden, once Lord Kronos rules again, and this is the center of our palace. It will teach those weaklings some humility.”

Percy looked back at Annabeth. She was desperately trying to tell him something, but all he could pay attention to was the stark grey streak in her hair. One they had shared, for a time. Oddly enough, he found himself missing it sometimes - it’d been something they bonded over. Joked about.

“From holding the sky,” Thalia muttered, as if she’d read his mind. ‘The weight should’ve killed her.” 

Percy shook his head in disgust. “We need to get Artemis out of here, now.” 

Atlas laughed. “How little you understand, young one. This is the point where the sky and the earth first met, where Ouranos and Gaia first brought forth their mighty children, the Titans. The sky still yearns to embrace the earth. Someone must hold it at bay, or else it would crush down upon this place, instantly flattening the mountain and everything within a hundred leagues. Once you have taken the burden, there is no escape.” Atlas smiled. “Unless someone else takes it from you.” 

He approached them, studying him and Thalia. “So these are the best heroes of the age, eh? Not much of a challenge.” 

“Fight us and we’ll see about that,” Percy demanded, Riptide still uncapped and ready in his hand. Off-balance or not, he’d kick the Titan’s ass a thousand times if he had to. 

“Have the gods taught you nothing? An immortal does not fight a mere mortal directly. It is beneath our dignity. I will have Luke crush you instead.” 

“So you’re another coward,” he said. 

Atlas’s eyes glowed with hatred. With difficulty, he turned his attention to Thalia. “As for you, daughter of Zeus, it seems Luke was wrong about you.”

“I wasn’t wrong,” Luke managed. He looked terribly weak, and he spoke every word as if it were painful. Percy could have a little sympathy, understanding what the weight of the sky could do to someone. “Thalia, you still can join us. Call the Ophiotaurus. It will come to you. Look!” 

He waved his hand, and next to them a pool of water appeared: a pond ringed in black marble, big enough for the Ophiotaurus. He could imagine Bessie in that pool. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more Percy was sure he could hear Bessie mooing. 

_ Don’t think about him!  _ Suddenly Grover’s voice rang through their empathy link. He was on the verge of panic.  _ I’m losing Bessie. Block the thoughts! _

He tried to focus on anything else - Annabeth, Zoe, Bianca, Nico. Anyone not currently talking about or associated with Bessie. 

“Thalia, call the Ophiotaurus,”” Luke persisted. “And you will be more powerful than the gods.” 

“Luke…” Her voice was full of pain. “What happened to you?” 

“Don’t you remember all those times we talked? All those times we cursed the gods? Our fathers have done nothing for us. They have no right to rule the world!” 

Thalia shook her head. “Free Annabeth. Let her go.” 

“If you join me,” Luke promised, “it can be like old times. The three of us together. Fighting for a better world. Please, Thalia, if you don’t agree…” 

His voice faltered. “It’s my last chance. He will use the other way if you don’t agree. Please.” It was easy enough to believe some of what Luke was saying. Atlas would kill him if Thalia didn’t join. This was his last chance. 

“Do not, Thalia,” Zoë warned. “We must fight them.” 

Bianca still held the arrow notched in her bow, but lowered it a fraction to offer her support as well. “These kinda guys lie all the time to get what they want from half-bloods, right? Just like Thorn tried to lure me and Nico away!”

Luke waved his hand again, and a fire appeared. A bronze brazier, just like the one at camp. A sacrificial flame. 

“Thalia, don’t,” Percy said. 

Behind Luke, the golden sarcophagus began to glow. As it did, Percy saw images in the mist all around them: black marble walls rising, the ruins becoming whole, a terrible and beautiful palace rising around us, made of fear and shadow. 

“We will raise Mount Othrys right here,” Luke promised, in a voice so strained it was hardly his. “Once more, it will be stronger and greater than Olympus. Look, Thalia. We are not weak.”

He pointed towards the ocean, and the sight made Percy relive far too many painful memories.. Marching up the side of the mountain, from the beach where the Princess Andromeda was docked, was a great army. Dracaenae and Laestrygonians, monsters and half-bloods, hell hounds, harpies and other things that were too ancient or obscure to name on the spot.

The whole ship must’ve been emptied, because there were hundreds, many more than he’d seen on board last summer. And they were marching closer. In a few minutes, they would be here. 

“This is only a taste of what is to come,” Luke said. “Soon we will be ready to storm Camp HalfBlood. And after that, Olympus itself. All we need is your help.”

For a terrible moment, Thalia hesitated. She gazed at Luke, her eyes full of pain, as if the only thing she wanted in the world was to believe him. Then she levelled her spear. “You aren’t Luke. I don’t know you anymore.”

“Yes, you do, Thalia,” he pleaded. “Please. Don’t make me… Don’t make him destroy you.”

There was no time. If that army got to the top of the hill, they would be overwhelmed. He met Annabeth’s eyes again, and she nodded. He looked at Thalia, then at Zoë and Bianca. Even the most painful fights were sometimes worth it in the end.

“Now,” Percy said. Together, they charged. Thalia went straight for Luke. The power of her shield was so great that his dragon-women bodyguards fled in a panic, dropping the golden coffin and leaving him alone. But despite his sickly appearance, Luke was still quick with his sword. He snarled like a wild animal and counter-attacked. When his sword Backbiter met Thalia’s shield, a ball of lightning erupted between them, frying the air with yellow tendrils of power. 

As for him and Bianca, they chose the far stupider rout of attacking the Lord Atlas. He laughed as they approached. A huge javelin appeared in his hands. His silk suit melted into full Greek battle armor. 

“Go on, then!”

“Bianca, Percy!” Zoë said. ”Beware!” 

IHe knew what she was warning him about. A half-blood could go anywhere, challenge anyone with the right amount of nerve. But an immortal could only fight if they were challenged directly - as soon as they took the first swing, Atlas was at liberty to attack with his full power. 

Percy charged with Riptide raised, and Atlas knocked him aside with the shaft of his javelin. He flew through the air and slammed into a black wall that was no longer Mist, but real brick. As he rose, he saw Bianca and Zoë providing a cover fire. 

“Fool!” Atlas screamed gleefully, swatting aside one of the Hunters’ arrows. “Did you think, simply because you could challenge that petty war god, that you could stand up to me?” 

There was one sem-correct part of the statement - Atlas was more of a physical challenge that Ares. He wanted to race for the pool of water, but wasn’t sure he’d make it, so instead he called for the water to come to him as he charged again. The javelin’s point slashed towards hum like a scythe. He raised his sword, planning to block the strike at best, and deflect at worst, but then Riptide felt like it weighed a million pounds, and dropped in his hand. Percy might have believed it was weakness from all he’d endured on this quest, or being set off balance because of his left arm, if he didn’t remember Atlas’s warning so well. 

_ When you need it most, your sword will fail you.  _

He tried to dodge instead, but the javelin caught him in the chest and sent the son of Poseidon flying like a rag doll. He slammed into the ground, head spinning as he looked up and found himself at the feet of Artemis, still straining under the weight of the sky. 

“Run, boy,” she told him. “You must run!”

Atlas was taking his time coming closer. Riptide was gone; it had skittered away over the edge of the cliff. It might reappear in his pocket in a few seconds, but he didn’t have that sort of time left. 

Luke and Thalia were fighting like demons, lightning crackling around them. Annabeth was on the ground, desperately struggling to free her hands. 

“Die, little hero,” Atlas said. He raised his javelin to deliver the final blow. 

“No”’ Zoë yelled, and between the two Hunters, nearly two-dozen arrows sprouted in various chinks of the Titan’s armor at once. 

“ARGH!” He bellowed and turned towards them. 

Percy didn’t bother reaching for Riptide, even as he felt it reappear in his pocket. There was really only one on this mountain that could defeat Atlas, as much as he wanted to think otherwise. 

“The sky,” he said to Artemis. “Give it to me.”

“No, boy,” the goddess said. Her forehead was beaded with metallic sweat, like quicksilver. “You don’t know what you’re asking. It will crush you, and in the condition you’re in-” 

“Who gives a damn if I die!” he shouted. “There’s more important things to protect right now!” He finally retrieved Riptide, uncapping it with his teeth and slashing through her chains. 

Stepping next to her and kneeling on both knees with his shoulders braced - he wasn’t stupid enough to think he could do this with one hand, his back would have to do - Percy felt he cold, heavy clouds settle between his shoulder blades. He raised his right arm too, anyways, to feel like he had some sort of control. 

For a moment, they bore the weight together. It was still the heaviest thing he’d ever held, unsurprisingly. He wanted to blackout from the pain, but that wasn’t an option. Takingdeep, unsteady breaths, he tried to relax his spasming muscles a little. Then Artemis slipped out from under the burden, and he held it alone. 

No matter how much time he had, no matter what words he used, there was no way to describe the experience. It was pure pain, every fibre of his being straining and burning with the effort. He felt his mind slipping in a way not unlike dissociation, unable to comprehend the world sound him. There was no room for that sort of thought, with all of the nerves firing pain signals and his brain struggling to keep up with the process. He began to sink, lower and lower to the ground, the sky’s weight crushing him. 

_ Fight back!  _ Grover’s voice said inside my head.  _ Don’t give up. _

For the briefest moment, he felt guilty. Grover would be forced to endure at least a fraction of his pain through their link. It must be awful, even secondhand. 

Everything was tinged with red, and incredibly fuzzy. There was Atlas in full battle armor, glinting in the remaining sunlight. And Artemis, a blur of silver, rapidly changing forms - she was a tiger, a gazelle, a bear, a falcon. Zoë and Bianca shot rapid-fire arrows at the Titan, aiming for the chinks in his armor. But for all he roared and raged over it, they affected him like bee-stings; he just got madder and kept fighting. 

Thalia and Luke went spear on sword, lightning still flashing around them. Thalia pressed Luke back with the aura of her shield. Even he was not immune to it. He retreated, wincing and growling in frustration. They shouted some things at each other, but all he could hear was the roar of blood in his ears. 

Percy existed for the time being. 

Atlas advanced, pressing Artemis. She was fast, but his strength was unstoppable. His javelin slammed into the earth where Artemis had been a split second before, and a fissure opened in the rocks. He leaped over it and kept pursuing her. She was leading him back towards Percy

_ Get ready _ , she spoke in his mind. It had to have been in his mind, because he still couldn’t hear anything beyond his own minimal thoughts. 

Atlas feinted with the tip of his javelin and Artemis dodged. Percy saw the trick coming. Atlas’s javelin swept round and knocked Artemis’s legs off the ground. She fell, and Atlas brought up his javelin tip for the kill. Before he could, Zoe leaped between her father and Artemis and shot an arrow straight into the Titan’s forehead, where it lodged like a unicorn’s horn. Atlas bellowed in rage. He swept aside his daughter with the back of his hand, sending her flying into the black rocks. 

He wanted to do something to help, but percy couldn’t even move his head to find where Zoe had landed. 

Then Atlas turned on Artemis with a look of triumph in his face. Artemis seemed to be wounded. She didn’t get up. Atlas gloated about something, then stabbed downward. As fast as thought, Artemis grabbed his javelin shaft. It hit the earth right next to her and she pulled backwards, using the javelin like a lever, kicking the Titan Lord and sending him flying over her. 

Percy saw the Titan about to come down on top of him, and immediately loosened his grip on the sky. As, and as Atlas slammed into him, he didn;t fight it at all and rolled with the movement as much as he could. The weight of the sky dropped onto Atlas’s back, almost smashing him flat until he managed to get to his knees, struggling to get out from under the crushing weight of the sky. But it was too late. 

“NOOOOOO!” He bellowed so hard it shook the mountain. “NOT AGAIN!” Atlas was trapped under his old burden. His wailing was the first sounds Percy heard, like when your ears pop after a long time of feeling plugged. 

Percy didn’t even try to move, panting in a heap on the ground exactly how he’d landed. All his focus was directed towards not dying, pretty much. 

Thalia backed Luke to the edge of a cliff, but still they fought on, next to the golden coffin. Thalia had tears in her eyes. Luke had a bloody slash across his chest and his pale face glistened with sweat. He lunged at Thalia and she slammed him with her shield. Luke’s sword spun out of his hands and clattered to the rocks. Thalia put her spear point to his throat. For a moment, there was silence. 

“Well?” Luke asked. He tried to hide it, but there was an edge of fear in his voice. Thalia trembled with fury. Behind her, Annabeth came scrambling, finally free from her bonds. Her face was bruised and streaked with dirt. 

“Don’t kill him!”

“He’s a traitor,” Thalia said. “A traitor!”

In his daze, the son of Poseidon realized Bianca and Artemis were no longer fighting, or within his immediate sightlines. They’d run towards the black rocks where Zoë had fallen. 

“We’ll bring Luke back,” Annabeth pleaded. “To Olympus. He… he’ll be useful.”

“Is that what you want, Thalia?” Luke sneered. “To go back to Olympus in triumph? To please your dad?”

Thalia hesitated, and Luke made a desperate grab for her spear. 

“No!” Annabeth shouted. But it was too late. Without thinking, Thalia kicked Luke away. He lost his balance, terror on his face, and then he fell. 

“Luke!” Annabeth screamed.

They raced to the cliff’s edge. Percy managed to push himself into a sitting position, arm trembling with the effort. Even having his left arm in that moment probably wouldn’t have helped much, for how useless his limbs felt. He didn’t need to see what had happened anyway, the image was burned into his brain like countless others. 

Below, the army from the Princess Andromeda would be completely still in shock. They ‘d all be laser-focused on Luke’s broken form on the rocks. The fall was fifteen metres at least, and he’d seem, for all intents and purposes, dead. 

One of the giants from the crowd, (at least he assumed it was a giant, from the deep, bellowing voice,) “Kill them!” 

Thalia was stiff with grief, tears streaming down her cheeks. Annabeth pulled her back as a wave of javelins sailed over their heads. The two ran for the rocks, Thalia stopping to get Percy’s arm over her shoulder and help him up. 

“Artemis!” he called, as they came upon the scene. The goddess looked up, her face almost as grief-stricken as Thalia’s. Zoë lay in the goddess’s arms. Bianca wouldn’t even look at them, holding Zoe’s hand as she sobbed over the fallen Hunter.

Zoë was breathing. Her eyes were open. But... “The wound is poisoned,” Artemis said. She showed them the wound in Zoë’s side. It was a grizzly tear from Ladon, one Percy wished he could have healed before they fought Atlas, but hadn’t the resources to do so. Drawing attention to it would have only caused stress and agitation they didn’t need in the middle of such a huge battle. 

“The stars,” Zoë murmured. ‘“ cannot see them.”

Grief hung in the air, heavy and oppressive. Percy leaned a little more on Thalia. The army of Kronos was just below the rise. Even Artemis was too shocked to stir. They might have met their doom right there, but then there was a strange buzzing noise. 

Just as the army of monsters came over the hill, a Sopwith Camel swooped down out of the sky. “Get away from my daughter!” Dr Chase called down, and his machine guns burst into life, peppering the ground with bullet holes and startling the whole group of monsters into scattering. 

“Dad?” Annabeth yelled in disbelief. 

“Run!” he called back, his voice growing fainter as the biplane swooped by. This shook Artemis out of her grief. 

She stared up at the antique plane, which was now banking round for another strafe. “A brave man,” Artemis said with grudging approval. “Come. We must get Zoë away from here.” She raised her hunting horn to her lips, and it's clear sound echoed down the valleys of Marin. Zoë’s eyes were fluttering. 

“Hang in there!” Bianca told her. “It’s going to be alright!”

The Sopwith Camel swooped down again. A few giants threw javelins, and one flew straight between the wings of the plane, but the machine guns blazed. The first row of snake women wailed as the machine gun’s volley blew them into sulphurous yellow powder. The bullets were obviously at least part celestial bronze, which was impressive. 

“That’s… my dad!” Annabeth said in amazement, but they didn’t have time to admire his flying. The giants and snake women were already recovering from their surprise; Dr Chase would be in trouble soon. 

Just then, the moonlight brightened, and a silver chariot appeared from the sky, drawn by the most beautiful deer anyone had ever seen. It landed right next to them.

“Get in,” Artemis said. 

Annabeth and Thalia helped Percy onboard, (Annabeth giving him a look that said  _ we will talk later,  _ which did not bode well,) and Artemis with Zoë. They wrapped Zoë in a blanket as Artemis pulled the reins and the chariot sped away from the mountain, straight into the air. 

“Like Santa's sleigh…” Bianca muttered. 

Artemis took a moment to look back at her. “Indeed, my huntress. And where do you think that legend came from?”

Seeing them safely away, Dr Chase turned his biplane and followed like an honour guard. It must have been one of the strangest sights ever, even for the Bay Area: a silver flying chariot pulled by deer, escorted by a Sopwith Camel. Behind them, the army of Kronos roared in anger as they gathered on the summit of Mount Tamalpais, but the loudest sound was the voice of Atlas, bellowing curses against the gods as he struggled under the weight of the sky.

  
  



	15. The end, but not really

They landed at Crissy Field after nightfall. As soon as Dr Chase stepped out of his Sopwith Camel, Annabeth ran to him and gave him a huge hug. 

“Dad! You flew… you shot… oh my gods! That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen!” 

Her father blushed. “Well, not bad for a middle-aged mortal, I suppose.”

“But the celestial bronze bullets! How did you get those?”

“Ah, well. You did leave quite a few half-blood weapons in your room in Virginia, the last time you… left.” 

Annabeth looked down, embarrassed. Percy noticed that Dr Chase was very careful not to say ‘ran away’. 

“I decided to try melting some down to make bullet casings,” he continued. “Just a little experiment.” He said it like it was no big deal, but he had a gleam in his eye. It was easy to see why Athena, Goddess of Crafts and Wisdom, had taken a liking to him. He was an excellent mad scientist at heart. 

“Dad…” Annabeth faltered. 

“Annabeth, Percy,” Thalia interrupted. Her voice was urgent. She, Bianca and Artemis were kneeling at Zoë’s side, binding the huntress’s wounds. 

He and Annabeth ran over, but there wasn’t much they could do to help. No ambrosia, no Nectar, and they were all dead on their feet. No regular medicine would help, and not for the first time in his life Percy cursed the fact that he could only heal himself with water. 

It was dark, but he could see that Zoë didn’t look good. She was shivering, and the faint glow that usually hung around her was fading. 

“Is… is there anything you can do?” he asked Artemis, but he wasn’t hopeful.

The goddess looked troubled. “Life is a fragile thing, Percy. If the Fates will the string to be cut, there is little I can do. But I can try.” 

She tried to set her hand on Zoë’s side, but Zoë gripped her wrist. She looked into the goddess’s eyes, and some kind of understanding passed between them. “Have I… served thee well?” Zoë whispered. 

“With great honour,” Artemis said softly. “The finest of my attendants.” 

Zoë’s face relaxed. “Rest. At last.”

“ _ Zoë no,”  _ Bianca sobbed.

“I can try to heal the poison, my brave one,” Artemis said. 

But in that moment, they all knew it wasn’t just the poison killing her - it was the final blow from her father. Zoë had known all along that the Oracle’s prophecy was about her: she would die by a parent’s hand. And yet she’d taken the quest anyway. She had chosen to save her goddess, and Atlas’s fury had broken her inside. 

She saw Thalia, and took her hand. “I am sorry we argued,””Zoë said. ‘We could have been sisters.”

“It’s my fault,” Thalia said, blinking hard. “You were right about Luke, about heroes, men – everything.”

“Perhaps not all men,” Zoë murmured. She smiled weakly at Percy. “Do you still have the sword, Percy?”

He couldn’t speak, but he brought out Riptide and put the pen in her hand. She grasped it contentedly. “You spoke the truth, Percy Jackson. You are nothing like… like Hercules. I am honoured that you carry this sword.”

He nodded, and she smiled. It went beyond any words they could say now. She turned to Bianca. 

“What a brave huntress you have become,” Zoë said. “I am glad… we could fight beside one another.” She gestured for Bianca to lean close, and murmured something too low for anyone else to hear. Bianca sobbed, but nodded, grasping Zoë’s hand tightly.

A shudder ran through her body. “Zoë-” Percy tried to say.

“Stars,” she whispered. “I can see the stars again, my lady.”

A tear trickled down Artemis’s cheek. “Yes, my brave one. They are beautiful tonight.”

“Stars,” Zoë repeated. Her eyes fixed on the night sky. And she did not move again. 

Thalia lowered her head. Annabeth gulped down a sob, and her father put his hands on her shoulders. Percy moved to put his arm around Bianca’s shoulders, and watched as Artemis cupped her hand above Zoë’s mouth and spoke a few words in Ancient Greek. A silvery wisp of smoke exhaled from Zoë’s lips and was caught in the hand of the goddess. Zoë’s body shimmered and disappeared. 

Artemis stood, said a kind of blessing, breathed into her cupped hand and released the silver dust to the sky. It flew up, sparkling, and vanished. For a moment, he didn’t see anything different. Then Annabeth gasped. Looking up in the sky, he saw that the stars were brighter now. They made a pattern I had never noticed before – a gleaming constellation that looked a lot like a girl’s figure – a girl with a bow, running across the sky. 

“Let the world honour you, my huntress,” Artemis said. “Live forever in the stars.” 

It wasn’t easy saying goodbye. The thunder and lightning were still boiling over Mount Tamalpais in the north. Artemis was so upset she flickered with silver light. It was concerning, but understandable. Bianca stood silently at her side, a familiar circlet resting on her head, marking the next Lieutenant of the Hunters. She would be following her goddess to the counsel. 

“I must go to Olympus immediately.” Artemis said. “I will not be able to take you, but I will send help.” 

The goddess set her hand on Annabeth’s shoulder. “You are brave beyond measure, my girl. You will do what is right.” 

Then she looked quizzically at Thalia, as if she weren’t sure what to make of this younger daughter of Zeus. Thalia seemed reluctant to look up, but something made her, and she held the goddess’s eyes. It wasn’t clear what passed between them, but Artemis’s gaze softened with sympathy. 

Then she turned to him. “You did well,” she said. “For a man.” 

Percy said nothing, but nodded in gratitude. That was about the highest praise he could ever expect from Artemis. 

She mounted her chariot with Bianca, and it began to glow. The four of them averted their eyes. There was a flash of silver, and the goddess was gone. 

“Well,” Dr Chase sighed. “She was impressive, though I must say I still prefer Athena.” 

Annabeth turned towards him. “Dad, I… I’m sorry that-”

“Shh.” He hugged her. “Do what you must, my dear. I know this isn’t easy for you.” His voice was a little shaky, but he gave Annabeth a brave smile. 

Then they heard the whoosh of large wings. Three pegasi descended through the fog: two white winged horses and one pure black one. 

“Blackjack!” Percy called. 

_ Yo, boss! _ he responded. _ You manage to stay alive okay without me?  _

“It was rough,” he admitted.

_ I brought Guido and Porkpie with me.  _

_ How ya doin? _ The other two pegasi spoke in my mind. 

Blackjack looked him over with concern, then checked out Dr Chase, Thalia and Annabeth.  _ Any of these goons you want us to stampede?  _

“Nope,” he said aloud. “These are my friends. We need to get to Olympus pretty fast.” 

_ No problem,  _ Blackjack said.  _ Except for the mortal over there. Hope he’s not going.  _

Percy assured him Dr Chase was not, in fact, coming. The professor was staring open-mouthed at the pegasi. “Fascinating,” he said. “Such manoeuvrability! How does the wingspan compensate for the weight of the horse’s body, I wonder?”

Blackjack cocked his head.  _ Whaaaat?  _

“Why, if the British had had these pegasi in the cavalry charges in the Crimea,” Dr Chase said, “the charge of the Light Brigade-

“Dad!” Annabeth interrupted. 

Dr Chase blinked. He looked at his daughter and managed a smile. “I’m sorry, my dear. I know you must go.” He gave her one last awkward, well-meaning hug. 

As she turned to climb aboard the pegasus Guido, Dr Chase called, “Annabeth. I know… I know San Francisco is a dangerous place for you. But please remember you always have a home with us. We will keep you safe.”

Annabeth didn’t answer, but her eyes were red as she turned away. Dr Chase started to say more, then apparently thought better of it. He raised his hand in sad farewell and trudged away across the dark field. 

He, Thalia and Annabeth and mounted their pegasi. Together they soared over the bay and flew towards the eastern hills. Soon San Francisco was only a glittering crescent behind them, with an occasional flicker of lightning in the north. 

Thalia was so exhausted she fell asleep on Porkpie’s back. Percy knew she had to be really tired to sleep in the air despite her fear of heights, but she didn’t have much to worry about. Her pegasus flew with ease, adjusting himself every once in a while so Thalia stayed safely on his back. 

He and Annabeth flew along side by side. 

“Your dad seems cool,” he told her. It was too dark to see her expression. 

She looked back, even though California was far behind us now. “I guess so,” she said. “We’ve been arguing for so many years.” 

“Yeah, but maybe he and your stepmom… have gotten cooler since you left. They’d both be happy to have you home, you know.”

She hesitated. “They’re still in San Francisco, Percy. I can’t live so far from camp.” 

“So what are you going to do now?” 

They flew over a town, an island of lights in the middle of the dark. It whisked by so fast they might’ve been in an aeroplane. 

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “But thank you for rescuing me.”

“No big deal,” he shrugged. “What’re friends for?”

“ _ You lost an arm, _ Percy.”

“Oh, so we’re having that conversation now, huh?” 

“How are you not more upset, seaweed brain? This… that has to be devastating.” 

“Not as much as you’d think,” he said. “Not as much as losing you would’ve been.” 

Annabeth was silent for a time. “You didn’t believe I was dead?” she finally asked.

“Never.” 

She hesitated. “Neither is Luke, you know. I mean… he isn’t dead.”

“No,” Percy agreed. “He isn’t.”  _ If only it were that easy.  _

“I just know it. The same way you knew about me.” 

The towns were zipping by faster now, islands of light thicker together, until the whole landscape below was a glittering carpet. Dawn was close. The eastern sky was turning grey. And, up ahead, a huge white-and-yellow glow spread out before them – the lights of New York. 

_ How’s that for speedy, boss? _ Blackjack bragged.  _ We get extra hay for breakfast or what? _

“And a dozen apples,” he grinned.

“There it is,” came Thalia’s voice; she’d woken up. She was pointing towards Manhattan, which was quickly zooming into view. “It’s started.” 

“What’s started?” he asked, looking where she was pointing. High above the Empire State Building, Olympus was its own island of light, a floating mountain ablaze with torches and braziers, white marble palaces gleaming in the early morning air. 

“The winter solstice,” Thalia said. “The Council of the Gods.”

Flying was bad enough for a son of Poseidon, but flying straight up to Zeus’s palace, with thunder and lightning swirling round it, was even worse. It didn’t seem very fortuitous that the clover charm on his necklace finally broke off as he was twisting it. 

They circled over midtown Manhattan, making one complete orbit around Mount Olympus. He’d been to Olympus a few too many times for his own liking, but if it was even possible, the place seemed even more beautiful than he remembered. In the early-morning darkness, torches and fires made the mountainside palaces glow twenty different colors, from blood red to indigo. 

No one ever slept on Olympus, or at least that’s how it looked. The twisting streets were full of demigods and nature spirits and minor godlings bustling about, riding chariots or sedan chairs carried by Cyclopes. Winter didn’t seem to exist here. He caught the scent of the gardens in full bloom, jasmine and roses and even sweeter things he couldn’t name. Music drifted up from many windows, the soft sounds of lyres and reed pipes. 

Towering at the peak of the mountain was the greatest palace of all, the glowing white hall of the gods. 

Their pegasi set us down in the outer courtyard, in front of huge silver gates. Before the thought of knocking or calling could even occur to him, the gates opened by themselves. 

_ Good luck, boss, _ Blackjack said. 

“Yeah.” Percy rarely saw all of the gods gathered in one place, and it was never a great place to be when they were. One wrong word or step, and he’d be dead - Poseidon’s son or no. There was a reason someone like him had learned manners, one way or another. 

_ Hey, if ya don’t come back, can I have your cabin for my stable?  _

Percy gave him a look. 

_ Just a thought, _ he said.  _ Sorry. _

Blackjack and his friends flew off, leaving just him, Annbeth and Thalia there alone. For a minute they stood there regarding the palace, the way they’d stood together in front of Westover Hall, that seemed like a million years ago. 

And then, side by side, they walked into the throne room. 

Twelve enormous thrones made a U round a central hearth, just like the placement of the cabins at camp. The ceiling above glittered with constellations – even the newest one, Zoë the Huntress, making her way across the heavens with her bow drawn. 

All of the seats were occupied. Each god and goddess was about five metres tall, and frankly they were more terrifying than any monster he’d ever met. Kronos could still give them a run for their money, though. 

“Welcome, heroes,” Artemis said. Bianca waved from her spot next to the goddess on her throne. For a moment, Percy was tempted to laugh at the sight - like a little kid sitting in on a business-meeting with their mom. 

“Mooo!” That’s when he noticed Bessie and Grover. A sphere of water was hovering in the center of the room, next to the hearth fire. Bessie was swimming happily around, swishing his serpent tail and poking his head out of the sides and the bottom of the sphere. He seemed to be enjoying the novelty of swimming in a magic bubble. 

Grover was kneeling at Zeus’s throne, as if he’d just been giving a report, but, when he saw them, he cried, “You made it!” 

He started to run towards them, then remembered he was turning his back on Zeus, and looked for permission. 

“Go on,” Zeus said. But he wasn’t really paying attention to Grover. The lord of the sky was staring intently at Thalia. 

Grover trotted over. None of the gods spoke. Every clop of Grover’s hooves echoed on the marble floor. Bessie splashed in his bubble of water. The hearth fire crackled.

Percy looked to his father, Poseidon. He was dressed similarly to the last time they’d met: beach shorts, a Hawaiian shirt and sandals. He had a weathered, suntanned face with a dark beard and deep green eyes. An almost instinctual part of him demanded he greet his father and the other lords first, but the corners of Poseidon’s eyes crinkled with smile lines. He nodded as if to say _ It’s okay.  _ That was really all the permission he needed. 

Grover gave Annabeth and Thalia big hugs. Then he grasped Percy’s arms. “Percy, Bessie and I made it! But you have to convince them! They can’t do it!” 

“Do what?”

“Heroes,” Artemis called. The goddess slid down from her throne and turned to human size, a young auburn-haired girl, perfectly at ease in the midst of the giant Olympians. She walked towards them, her silver robes shimmering. There was no emotion in her face. She seemed to walk in a column of moonlight. 

“The Council has been informed of your deeds,” Artemis spoke. “They know that Mount Othrys is rising in the West. They know of Atlas’s attempt for freedom, and the gathering armies of Kronos. We have voted to act.”

There was some mumbling and shuffling among the gods, as if they weren’t all happy with this plan, but nobody protested. 

“At my Lord Zeus’s command,” Artemis said, “my brother Apollo and I shall hunt the most powerful monsters, seeking to strike them down before they can join the Titans’ cause. Lady Athena shall personally check on the other Titans to make sure they do not escape their various prisons. Lord Poseidon has been given permission to unleash his full fury on the cruise ship Princess Andromeda and send it to the bottom of the sea. And as for you, my heroes…” 

She turned to face the other immortals. “These half-bloods have done Olympus a great service. Would any here deny that?” 

She looked around at the assembled gods, meeting their faces individually. Zeus in his dark pinstriped suit, his black beard neatly trimmed, and his eyes sparking with energy. Next to him sat a beautiful woman with silver hair braided over one shoulder and a dress that shimmered with colors like peacock feathers; the Lady Hera. 

On Zeus’s right, Poseidon. Next to him, a huge lump of a man with a leg in a steel brace, a misshapen head and a wild brown beard, fire flickering through his whiskers; the Lord of the Forges, Hephaestus. 

Hermes winked at Percy. He was wearing a business suit today, checking messages on his caduceus cell phone. Apollo leaned back in his golden throne with his shades on. He had iPod headphones on, so he might not have even been listening, but he gave Percy a thumbs-up. Dionysus looked bored, twirling a grapevine between his fingers. And Ares, well, he sat on his chrome-and-leather throne, glowering while he sharpened a knife. 

On the ladies’ side of the throne room, a dark-haired goddess in green robes sat next to Hera on a throne woven of apple-tree branches; Demeter, Goddess of the Harvest. Next to her sat a beautiful grey-eyed woman in an elegant white dress. Annabeth’s mother, Athena. Then there was Aphrodite, who smiled at Percy knowingly and he carefully looked away. 

All the Olympians in one place. So much power in this room it was a miracle the whole palace didn’t blow apart. 

“I gotta say,” Apollo broke the silence, “these kids did okay.” He cleared his throat and began to recite: “Heroes win laurels-”

“Um, yes, first class,” Hermes interrupted, like he was anxious to avoid Apollo’s poetry. “All in favour of not disintegrating them?” 

A few tentative hands went up – Demeter, Aphrodite. 

“Wait just a minute,” Ares growled. He pointed at Thalia and Percy. “These two are dangerous. It’d be much safer, while we’ve got them here-”

“Ares,” Poseidon interrupted, “they are worthy heroes. We will not blast my son to bits.” 

“Nor my daughter,” Zeus grumbled. “She has done well.” 

Thalia blushed. She studied the floor. He could sympathize - compliments from your godly parent were rare and awkward. 

The goddess Athena cleared her throat and sat forward. “I am proud of my daughter as well. But there is a security risk here, with the other two.”

“Mother!” Annabeth said. “How can you-” 

Athena cut her off with a calm but firm look. “It is unfortunate that my father, Zeus, and my uncle, Poseidon, chose to break their oath not to have more children. Only Hades kept his word, a fact that I find ironic.” Percy had to hold back a snort. “As we know from the Great Prophecy, children of the three elder gods… such as Thalia and Percy… are dangerous. As thickheaded as he is, Ares has a point.” 

“Right!’ Ares said. “Hey, wait a minute. Who you callin’-” 

He started to get up, but a grapevine grew round his waist like a seat belt and pulled him back down. “Oh, please, Ares,” Dionysus sighed. “Save the fighting for later.” 

Ares cursed and ripped away the vine. “You’re one to talk, you old drunk. You seriously want to protect these brats?” 

Dionysus gazed down at them wearily. “I have no love for them. Athena, do you truly think it safest to destroy them?” 

“I do not pass judgement,” Athena said. “I only point out the risk. What we do, the Council must decide.” 

“I will not have them punished,” Artemis said. “I will have them rewarded. If we destroy heroes who do us a great favour, then we are no better than the Titans. If this is Olympian justice, I will have none of it.”

“Calm down, sis,” Apollo said. “Jeez, you need to lighten up.” 

“Don’t call me sis! I will reward them.” 

“Well,” Zeus grumbled. “Perhaps. But the monster at least must be destroyed. We have agreement on that?”

A lot of nodding heads. It took every ounce of his will not to scream, but Percy interjected. “You want to destroy Bessie?” 

“Mooooooo!” Bessie protested. 

His father frowned. “You have named the Ophiotaurus Bessie?” 

“Dad,” he said gently. “You can’t kill Bessie. He’s done nothing wrong but exist. If that warranted death, I’d have been struck down already, right?”

Poseidon shifted uncomfortably. “Percy, the monster’s power is considerable. If the Titans were to steal it, or-”

Percy shifted his attention to Zeus. “Controlling the prophecies never works. Besides, isn’t killing someone for what they  _ might  _ do exactly what caused Kronos to fall?”

Zeus seemed to consider this. His eyes drifted to his daughter. “And what of the risk? Kronos knows full well, if one of you were to sacrifice the beast’s entrails, you would have the power to destroy us. Do you think we can let that possibility remain? You, my daughter, will turn sixteen on the morrow, just as the prophecy says.”

“You have to trust them,” Annabeth spoke up. “Sir, you have to trust them.” 

Zeus scowled. “Trust a hero?”

“Annabeth is right,” Artemis said. “Which is why I must first make a reward. My faithful companion, Zoë Nightshade, has passed into the stars, and I have chosen a new lieutenant in Bianca di Angelo, who was among the heroes who bravely took on this quest.” 

Bianca blushed, and glanced down at them from her seat up on Artemis’s throne. 

“But, she is young yet, and will only become a seasoned warrior through experience. Which is why, if you will allow it my Lord Zeus, I would like to accept another into my Hunt, to guide her and provide counsel.” 

Zeus beckoned Artemis forward, and

the two conversed privately for a moment. Percy let out a breath -not quite relief, but he was glad some things were still moving forward as they should. 

Artemis turned. “I shall have a second, lieutenant,” the goddess announced. “If she will accept it. Thalia, Daughter of Zeus. Will you join the Hunt?” 

Stunned silence filled the room. Annabeth smiled; she squeezed Thalia’s hand and let it go, as if she’d been expecting this all along. Knowing wise girl, she probably had.

“I will,” Thalia said firmly. 

Zeus rose, his eyes full of concern. “My daughter, consider well-”

“Father,” she said. “I will not turn sixteen tomorrow. I will never turn sixteen. I won’t let this prophecy be mine. I stand with my sister Artemis. Kronos will never tempt me again.”

She knelt before the goddess and began the words Percy remembered from Bianca’s oath, that seemed like so long ago. “I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis. I turn my back on the company of men…” 

Afterwards, Thalia did something that surprised him almost as much as the pledge. She walked over, smiled, and in front of the whole assembly, she gave him a big hug

When she pulled away and gripped his shoulders, he grinned and asked: “Aren’t you not supposed to associate with us horrible men anymore?”

“I’m honouring a friend,” she corrected. “I must join the Hunt, Percy. I haven’t known peace since… since Half-Blood Hill. I finally feel like I have a home. But you’re a hero. You will be the one of the prophecy.” 

“If I live that long,” he parted with a joking tone. 

She hugged Annabeth, who was trying hard not to cry. Then she even hugged Grover, who looked ready to pass out, like somebody had just given him an all-you-can-eat enchilada coupon. Then Thalia went to stand by Artemis’s side. 

“Now for the Ophiotaurus,” Artemis said. 

“This boy is still dangerous,” Dionysus warned. “The beast is a temptation to great power. Even if we spare the boy-” 

“No.” Percy looked around at all the gods. “Please, my father can keep the Opheotaurus safe. We can’t-”

“And why should we trust you?” rumbled Hephaestus. 

“The prophecy says I can either save or destroy Olympus, right? If it’s about me, then theoretically, I might be your only chance at survival. Besides, I’m only fourteen, that’s two whole years for me to die in a ditch somewhere.” 

“Two years for Kronos to deceive you,” Athena said. “Much can change in two years, my young hero.”

“Mother!” Annabeth said, exasperated. 

“It is only the truth, child. It is bad strategy to keep the animal alive. Or the boy.”

His father stood. “I will not have a sea creature destroyed if I can help it. And I can help it.” He held out his hand, and a trident appeared in it: a six-metre long bronze shaft with three spear tips that shimmered with blue, watery light. “I will vouch for the boy, and the safety of the Ophiotaurus.” 

“You won’t take it under the sea!” Zeus stood suddenly. “I won’t have that kind of bargaining chip in your possession.” 

“Brother, please,” Poseidon sighed. 

Zeus’s lightning bolt appeared in his hand, a shaft of electricity that filled the whole room with an ozone storm smell. 

“Fine,” Poseidon conceded. “I will build an aquarium for the creature here. Hephaestus can help me. The creature will be safe. We shall protect it with all our powers. The boy will not betray us. I vouch for this on my honour.” 

Zeus thought about this. “All in favour?” 

Surprisingly, a lot of hands went up. Dionysus abstained. So did Ares and Athena. But everybody else… 

“We have a majority,” Zeus decreed. “And so, since we will not be destroying these heroes… I imagine we should honour them. Let the triumph celebration begin!” 

There are parties, and then there are huge, major, blowout parties. And then there are Olympian parties. There wasn’t anything to compare them to, besides… insane.

The Nine Muses cranked up the tunes, and Percy remembered the music would sound as whatever you wanted it to be: the gods could listen to classical and the younger demigods heard hip-hop or whatever, and it was all the same soundtrack. No arguments. No fights to change the radio station. Just requests to crank it up. 

Dionysus went around growing refreshment stands out of the ground, and a beautiful woman walked with him arm in arm – his wife, Ariadne. Dionysus looked happy for the first time. (Or, the first time since Percy had come back, anyway.)

Nectar and ambrosia overflowed from golden fountains, and platters of mortal snack food crowded the banquet tables. Golden goblets filled with whatever drink you wanted. Grover trotted around with a full plate of tin cans and enchiladas, and his goblet was full of double-espresso latte, which he kept muttering over like an incantation: “Pan! Pan!” 

Gods kept coming over to congratulate Percy. Thankfully, they had reduced themselves to human size so they didn’t accidentally trample party goers under their feet. He chatted with Hermes, and he was so cheerful it was almost weird. Eventually got a call on his caduceus and walked away.

Apollo came over to say he could drive his sun chariot any time, and if he ever wanted archery lessons- 

“Thanks,” Percy told him. “But, seriously, I’m no good at archery.” 

“Ah, nonsense,” the god said. “Target practice from the chariot as we fly over the U.S.? Best fun there is!” 

Percy made some excuses and wove through the crowd. He mostly stuck to the snack tables, (jeez, it was awkward setting down a drink every time he wanted to grab something else) looking for Annabeth. She’d been dancing with some minor godling a while ago, but he couldn’t see her anywhere now. 

Then a man’s voice behind him said, “You won’t let me down, I hope.” 

He turned and found Poseidon smiling at him. 

“Oh. Hey dad.” 

“Hello, Percy. You’ve done well.” 

Percy nodded, not sure how to respond to that. “I won’t let you down,” he finally said. It was sort of a promise, informal but binding nonetheless. 

He nodded. :Your friend Luke, he once promised things like that. He was Hermes’s pride and joy. Just bear that in mind, Percy. Even the bravest can fall.” 

“Luke fell pretty hard,” Percy snorted. :If only he’d stay down for once.” 

Poesidon nodded grimly. “His boat sails from San Francisco with the remains of Kronos even now. He will retreat and regroup before assaulting you again. I will do my best to destroy his boat with storms, but he is making alliances with my enemies, the older spirits of the ocean. They will fight to protect him.” 

“Lucky for him.” 

It seemed like the god wanted to say more, but just then Bessie started mooing from across the courtyard. Some demigods were playing with his water sphere, joyously pushing it back and forth over the top of the crowd. 

“I’d better take care of that,” Poseidon grumbled. “We can’t have the Ophiotaurus tossed around like a beach ball. Be good, my son. We may not speak again for some time.”

And just like that he was gone. Percy was tempted to trade his can of coke for something stronger, but he wasn’t sure there was actually any alcohol around with Mr D being ‘grounded.’ Probably wasn’t a good look for one of the heroes to be drinking when he was technically fourteen, anyway. (He’d never been an alcoholic, but man it was awkward to be treated like a kid sometimes.) 

“Your father takes a great risk, you know.” 

He turned and found himself face-to-face with a woman that looked a lot like Annabeth. 

“Athena,” Percy greeted with no particular inflection. 

She smiled dryly. “Do not judge me too harshly, half-blood. Wise counsel is not always popular, but I spoke the truth. You are dangerous.” 

“You never taken a risk before?” 

She nodded. “I concede the point. You may perhaps be useful. And yet… your fatal flaw may destroy us as well as yourself.” 

“Kronos knows your flaw, even if you do not. He knows how to study his enemies. Think, Percy. How has he manipulated you? First, your mother was taken from you. Then your best friend, Grover. Now my daughter, Annabeth.” 

Percy nodded, idly searching for another coke as he finished the one in his hand. 

“You still do not know when it is time to cut your losses. To save a friend, you would sacrifice the world. In a hero of the prophecy, that is very, very dangerous.” 

“Yeah, I don’t think you’re the first person to tell me that. But who says it’s a flaw to want to protect?”

“The most dangerous flaws are those which are good in moderation,” she said. “Evil is easy to fight. Lack of wisdom… that is very hard indeed.” 

He said nothing about that. Not like he’d ever claimed to be wise. 

“I hope the Council’s decisions prove wise,’Athena said. ‘But I will be watching, Percy Jackson. I do not approve of your friendship with my daughter. I do not think it wise for either of you. And should you begin to waver in your loyalties…” She fixed him with a cold grey stare, and he figured he could give her some kind of olive branch. Haha. 

“Athena, know this. There is no one alive who has my loyalty more than your daughter. I love-” 

“Percy!” a voice cut him off. It was Annabeth, running through the crowd. She stopped short when she saw who he was talking to. 

“Oh… Mom.” 

“I will leave you,” Athena said. “For now.” She turned and strode through the crowds, which parted before her as if she were carrying Aegis. 

“Was she giving you a hard time?” Annabeth asked. 

“About as much as any other goddess does on a day to day basis. It’s fine.”

She studied him with concern. She touched the new streak of grey in his hair that matched hers exactly – their painful souvenir from holding Atlas’s burden. 

Would it be awful of him to say he’d missed it? 

“So,” Annabeth said. “We have a lot to talk about.”

“I guess we do, wise girl. But first-” the music was playing. People were dancing in the streets. It was about the most relaxed they were going to get on Olympus, and he wanted to set aside the important talk for now. “I believe we were interrupted at Westover Hall. I think I owe you a do-over dance.” 

She smiled slowly. “All right, Seaweed Brain.” 

It was still a bit awkward - he was no dancer. And missing his left arm, he had no idea what to do with that side. But Annabeth didn’t either, and it was the perfect time to figure it out. 

Percy has no idea what everyone else heard as they danced, but he swayed and stepped to a gentle slow dance. Sad, pensive, but just a bit hopeful, too. 


End file.
